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Vladimir Lucic from FC Bayern (r.) Leads his team to victory with 27 points
Photo:
Tobias Hase / dpa
The basketball players of FC Bayern avoided the premature end in the quarter-finals of the Euroleague.
Coach Andrea Trinchieri's team won against Olimpia Milan 85:79 (39:35) and shortened to 1: 2 in the best-of-five series.
Thanks to a convincing defensive performance, the Bundesliga team, which was the first German team to reach the Euroleague playoffs, forced a fourth game.
That rises again on Friday (8.45 p.m.) in the Munich arena.
The Munich team's best thrower was Vladimir Lucic with 27 points.
For the Milanese, 18 points from former Bayern Munich Malcolm Delaney were not enough for the decisive third success.
After the two defeats in Milan and the astonishingly clear abrasion in the Bundesliga against Alba Berlin (62: 100), the Bavarians felt the urge to make amends.
With a mighty block in the first action against veteran guest Kyle Hines, the Munich team underlined their motivation and followed up with a strong first third (23: 9).
After that, as in Milan, inaccuracies and mistakes crept in and even briefly deprived the hosts of the lead.
Thanks to a final sprint, the break was four points ahead.
The third quarter began with a renewed increase in Bayern's defense, which did not allow the Italians any points for almost five minutes.
Because the home side also played concentrated in attack and recorded 16 points in a row, a clear advantage jumped out after 25 minutes (53:35).
In the stands, the club bosses around President Herbert Hainer and his predecessor Uli Hoeneß, who had promoted basketball players for years, cheered every action their team took.
In the first duel of the series in Lombardy, Bayern had a 19-point lead in the final second.
This time, too, the lead in the last quarter continued to shrink - but this time there was no big disappointment.
The overall winner of this quarter-final moves into the Final Four, which will be held in Cologne at the end of May.
krä / dpa