The Canadian head coach hailed his team’s effort in epic win over Crvena Zvezda
Gordon Herbert proud of Bayern warriors who shook off fatigue

FC Bayern Munich earned a shot at making the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs after grinding out a 97-93 overtime home win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade on the back of a sterling team effort. The rollercoaster kept fans at SAP Garden on the edge of their seats throughout and Bayern prevailed in a strength-sapping contest, which followed a grueling regular season.
Bayern head coach Gordon Herbert heaped praise on his men after they found another gear in overtime and forced Zvezda into submission to earn a showdown with Real Madrid, the prize being a best-of-five quarterfinal series against Olympiacos Piraeus.
“I give a lot of credit to the players for finding the energy, the will and determination to fight through the fatigue,” Herbert said at the postgame press conference. “We kept our heads up and came out on top in overtime after Vladimir Lucic hit a couple of big shots.
“We’ve lived to play another day, it’s a good win and the manner of this victory will help build team spirit as it’s shown the resilience of this group. We now need to fight off the fatigue and then we’ll have a look at what we need to improve on ahead of the Madrid game.”
Having excelled in most departments, Bayern might want to take a look at ball handling as the home team committed 16 turnovers against 20 assists, while shooting 14-of-31 from deep and racking up 38 boards, including 13 on offense. Bayern also collected 8 steals, courtesy of its relentless hustle which helped the German outfit erase a 10-point deficit.
Herbert’s Zvezda counterpart Ioannis Sfairopoulos rued some officiating calls that went against his team, but ultimately Zvezda will look back at poor free throw shooting as the Serbian squad made a modest 14 of 25 shots from the foul line, missing 5 in overtime when the chips were down. The visitors also had a forgettable night from downtown, making just 5 of 22 three-pointers while they also lost the battle of the boards as they racked up 33 rebounds.
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Sfairopoulos put on a brave face at the press conference, commending his team for putting up a spirited fight, having missed a chance to snatch an automatic playoff berth after losing six of its last eight regular season games.
“It was our last game of the season in the EuroLeague and on one hand we are satisfied that we participated in the play-in as we’ve made progress compared to last year,” the Greek tactician said.
“On the other hand, knowing that we could have done more leaves a bitter taste. It’s been a promising season and one to build on for the future, a learning curve and a base for improvement. Last but not least, I want to thank our fans who’ve supported us all the way.”
Thousands of Zvezda fans thronged the gym on Tuesday night and made their team feel at home at SAP Garden, sending the Serbian side off with a rising ovation despite a tough loss that propelled Bayern into the business end of Europe’s premier club competition.