Mike James shined with 26 points and 6 assists to lead AS Monaco to a 78-83 road win over FC Bayern Munich at Audi Dome on Thursday night. The visitors used a 0-12 run to finish the second quarter with a 35-40 halftime lead and though Bayern tied the score early in the third quarter, it would never lead again. The result gave Monaco a season sweep of Bayern and left both teams with 8-11 records.
James shoots Monaco to victory in Munich, 78-83
Danilo Andjusic contributed 16 points, Dwayne Bacon scored 11 and Donatas Motiejunas had 10 for the winners. Corey Walden paced Bayern with a career-high 26 points, 5 assists and 4 steals and Vladimir Lucic added 14 points in defeat.
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Monaco took the lead early on a Will Thomas jumper and a James free throw. Leon Radosevic got Bayern on the scoreboard with his first basket of the season. Motiejunas took a steal in for a slam and followed it with a hook shot for a 5-10 lead midway through the quarter. Walden hit back for Bayern with back-to-back threes to take the lead. James had the visitors back on top with a three and a mid-range jumper. After a layup by Leo Westermann and 1 free throw by Ognjen Jaramaz, Monaco led 18-19 at the end of the first quarter.
Bayern regained the lead on a K.C. Rivers triple before Othello Hunter threw down an alley-oop dunk. The lead continued to switch sides as Brock Motum and Walden traded threes. Lucic’s reverse layup made it 28-24. The lead continued to grow with Walden’s fifth three and a pull-up jumper by Jaramaz to make it 35-28. After a timeout, Motiejunas made a hook shot and Alpha Diallo added a triple. James tied it with a floater, Dwayne Bacon made the go-ahead free throws and James came up with a steal and a triple on the halftime buzzer, capping a 0-12 Monaco run for a 35-40 advantage at the break.
DeShaun Thomas started the second half with a triple and a put-back slam to even the score. Andjusic restored a Monaco lead with a three-pointer. The Bayern offense went cold, missing five straight shots, as the visitors built a 40-46 lead. Nick Weiler-Babb revived Bayern with a layup off a steal, but a three by Will Thomas kept Monaco in charge. Even though Lucic heated up, another three by Andjusic made it 49-55. Bacon stretched the lead to 8 before Lucic and James traded threes to end the third quarter with the visitors up 54-62.
Baskets by Bacon and Motiejunas gave Monaco the game’s first double-digit lead, 56-66, early in the fourth quarter. After a Bayern timeout, Hunter made free throws and Jaramaz buried a three-pointer to halve the deficit. However, Andjusic made free throws and James made a three to keep Monaco comfortably ahead. Walden stepped up with 5 quick points and a steal that led to a Hunter dunk to make it 68-73 with 4 minutes remaining. After a Monaco timeout, James made a tough shot and Bacon split free throws. Walden made 2 foul shots to bring Bayern within 72-76 with 1:29 to play. A triple by James was a dagger that Bayern could not recover from and Andjusic sealed the game from the foul line.