Bayern Munich won the German duel in the basketball premier class against Alba Berlin on the debut of EM hero Niels Giffey.
Coach Andrea Trinchieri’s team celebrated their second consecutive EuroLeague victory with a hard-fought 79:77 (45:39) against the German champions. Ex-Berliner Giffey scored his first three points for Bayern.
The guests from Munich were 26:15 ahead after a strong first quarter, but fell behind for the first time after the break with a 0:13 run. In the end it was enough for Bayern, who lost the Bundesliga final series against Alba last season. The best throwers for Munich were national players Andreas Obst and Augustine Rubit with 14 points each, while Jaleen Smith scored 20 points for the Berliners.
In the EuroLeague, Munich suffered five defeats at the start, but are now slowly gaining momentum. However, Alba still has better play-off cards with three wins from seven games.
There were a total of four players on the floor who had won bronze with the national team at the home European Championships in the summer. Berlin’s Johannes Thielmann met Munich’s Nick Weiler-Babb, Obst and Giffey, who Bayern had signed from Murcia on Tuesday. Alba’s Maodo Lo was out injured.