After losing most of a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, Bayern held on late
Bayern relieved to have beaten Zalgiris
FC Bayern Munich was close to having really been heartbroken in Round 8 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, but the German side fought off a valiant comeback from Zalgiris Kaunas and is happy to have gotten the win.
Bayern nearly wasted a 14-point fourth-quarter lead but defeated Zalgiris 77-74 for its fifth straight victory and a 6-2 record, which gives it a share of first place.
“I’m just glad we won. It was tough, especially there towards the end. We kind of let up a little bit and they hit some big shots. Our guys fought it out. We played tremendously, especially in the first half. I’m just glad we won,” said Devin Booker, who poured in 15 points for Bayern.
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Zalgiris nearly pulled off another magical comeback - after rallying from 27 points down to beat EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 4. The Lithuanians, who had won their last five games and held first place going into the game, cut Bayern’s lead to 1 point in the closing moments thanks to Sylvain Francisco scoring 16 of his 20 points in the final frame.
“We lost focus a little bit and miscommunication here and there. Once they hit a couple of shots they got that momentum. We were just trying to battle and fight it out the whole time. We fought to the end,” said Booker.
Carsen Edwards came through in the end though with 6 of his 24 points in the final 68 seconds.
"I am just happy we won. Happy we left the game with everybody healthy and we got the win,” said Edwards, who also chipped in 5 rebounds and 5 assists. “I understand that it’s a long season so we are just taking it one game at a time. It was good for us to get this one. We will figure out what we need to do to get better and then just keep going.”
Head coach Gordie Herbert was pleased his team rewarded itself for the strong effort over the first 32 or so minutes.
“I think we played some good moments but we also struggled in the half-court against their defense. They made some big threes coming back. Give credit to our guys. They hung together and we made some big free throws down the stretch,” the coach said.