FC Bayern Munich broke its four-game road losing streak by beating Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 77-84 at Buesa Arena on Friday. Bayern improved to 9-11 in the standings while Baskonia dropped to 7-13. Othello Hunter, Corey Walden and Augustine Rubit led the winners with 17 points apiece, and DeShaun Thomas added 13. Wade Baldwin led Baskonia with 23 points.
Hunter's dunk show leads Bayern to ninth win, 77-84
Simone Fontecchio and Matt Costello each added 12 while Tadas Sedekerskis had 11 for the hosts. Sedekerskis shined early to give Baskonia a 15-6 lead but Thomas and Hunter allowed Bayern to get within 17-16 after 10 minutes. Nick Weiler-Babb, Walden and Rubit fueled a mammoth 0-17 run that gave the guests a 33-42 lead at halftime. Vladimir Lucic and Hunter took over after the break but Baldwin kept the hosts within 71-73 midway through the fourth quarter, before Hunter and Walden made the difference down the stretch.
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Sedekerskis hit a three-pointer to get Baskonia going and erased Rubit's fadeaway jumper with a driving layup for a 5-2 lead. Steven Enoch scored in transition and Rokas Giedraitis soon gave the hosts a 10-2 edge. Hunter followed an alley-oop dunk with a power layup but Sedekerskis struck again from downtown and Lamar Peters added a driving layup that made Bayern call timeout at 15-6. Thomas rescued Bayern with a three-point play and Hunter erased Peters's jumper with a layup. Thomas buried a triple and Weiler-Babb downed a jumper that brought the guests within 17-16 after 10 minutes.
Rubit took over with a three-point play that gave Bayern its first lead, 17-19, early in the second quarter. Costello followed a bomb from downtown with a layup in a 7-0 run that made the guests stop the game at 24-19. Weiler-Babb stepped up with a driving basket and fed K.C. Rivers with a fast break layup. Walden followed a stop-and-pop triple with a wild four-point play in a 0-17 run that Rubit capped with a layup for a 24-36 Bayern lead. Rubit bettered Fontecchio's layup with a bomb from beyond the arc but Enoch hit a jump hook, Jayson Granger made a triple and Costello scored down low, before Ognjen Jaramaz restored a 33-42 Bayern lead at halftime.
Costello struck from beyond the arc right after the break and Baldwin added a backdoor slam to pull Baskonia back to 38-42. Lucic rescued Bayern with back-to-back three-pointers but Fontecchio also struck twice from downtown and added a backdoor slam for a 46-48 score. Thomas scored around the basket and Hunter erased Baldwin's dunk with a huge one-handed alley-oop slam. Thomas sank a three-pointer but Costello and Baldwin kept Baskonia within 52-55. Rivers stepped up with a second-chance layup and Hunter added a put-back slam that gave Bayern fresh air at 52-59. Baldwin hit a jumper but Hunter's third alley-oop slam kept the guests ahead, 55-61, after 30 minutes.
Baldwin buried a step-back jumper early in the fourth quarter but Walden bettered that with back-to-back three-pointers, restoring a double-digit Bayern lead at 57-67. Sedekerskis answered from downtown, before Thomas banked in a turnaround shot and Weiler-Babb improved Granger's jumper with a triple that seemed to break the game open, 62-73, with under 6 minutes left. Fontecchio scored down low, however, and got help from Peters and Baldwin to make Bayern stop the game at 68-73. Baldwin capped a 9-0 run with a three-point play, but Hunter rescued the guests with a layup and yet another one-handed alley-oop dunk. Baldwin hit a jumper but Walden buried a three-pointer that sealed the outcome, 73-80, with 48.3 seconds remaining.