BBL in front of almost 19,000 spectators: Munich gives hosts Bonn no chance

As of: December 21, 2025 8:28 p.m

In a clear defeat against champions Bayern Munich, Telekom Baskets Bonn set a new attendance record.

In an early game on the 31st matchday, Bonn lost 55:83 (27:40) in the Cologne Arena on Sunday evening and suffered their next defeat against a top team after the narrow defeat at second-placed Trier the previous week. In the tight table, the Baskets slipped from sixth to ninth place, Bayern are still two points ahead of Trier at the top of the table.

The best thrower at Bonn was Tylan Birts with twelve points, at Munich Isiaha Mike stood out with 22 points.

18,713 fans in the Cologne Arena

With 18,713 spectators in the Cologne Arena, the Bonn team set a new attendance record for the BBL. The Baskets also held the previous record: On April 7, 2000, 18,506 people attended the BBL game between Bonn and Alba Berlin, which was also moved to the Cologne Arena. The European record dates back to 2009, when 22,567 fans came to the Partizan Belgrade game against Panathinaikos Athens.

The new record was celebrated by the fans in the arena before the throw-off, partly because of confetti the game started a little later.

Bonn starts badly, Bayern outstanding

After the celebrations, Bayern got off to an excellent start to the encounter. While almost everything worked for the guests and they gained a 14-point lead by the end of the first quarter (23:9), almost nothing worked for the Bonn team apart from the free throws.

Baskets improve in the second quarter

But in the second quarter the hosts showed a different face. After a successful layup by Tylan Birts, Bonn’s Grayson Murphy stole the ball from Xavier Rathan-Mayes and passed it to Birts, who shortened the score to 14:25 (13th minute of the game) from the three-point line. Munich took a timeout, but Murphy then completed the Baskets’ 7-0 run with a layup (16:25/14th).

Bayern became more uncertain in their offensive actions, Bonn continued to work their way up. After a dunking by Alijah Comithier (17th), the deficit was only eight points (24:32), but now the Munich team showed their quality again: Andreas Obst restored the 14-point lead with a three-pointer from outside shortly before half-time (26:40).

Munich doesn’t let anything go to waste

In the third quarter, the Baskets failed to reduce the deficit (43:59) – Bayern managed their lead relatively confidently. Michael Kessens and Murphy (22nd) brought Bonn within 31:40 with two layups in a row, but the team then made a few missed throws and lost the ball. Munich was also prone to errors, but kept the distance constant.

In the final section, Bayern continued to keep Bonn at bay in terms of points. Bonn (34 percent) could not keep up with the champions’ strong shooting rates from the field (47 percent) – the poor rate from the three-point line was particularly noticeable (2 out of 19/11 percent). The last quarter went by for a long time and Bayern was able to extend its lead.

Bonn now against Heidelberg

The next game for Bonn is on the Saturday after Christmas (December 27th/8 p.m.). Then they are guests in Heidelberg. Bayern want to get back on the road to success in the Euroleague on Tuesday (December 23rd/7:30 p.m.) against Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Our sources:

Broadcast: WDR.de“Bayern wins against BasketsBonn in front of a record crowd,” December 21, 2025, 7:45 p.m