The basketball players of FC Bayern Munich came out of the international break with an emotional victory. The leader of the basketball Bundesliga won 86:75 (28:46) against the Hamburg Towers.
National basketball player Paul Zipser celebrated his return after a long rehabilitation phase and was back on the floor for the first time since his brain operation in June 2021.
Zipser came on for the last 15 seconds of the third quarter to applause but ultimately played no longer. “It’s a blessing that we’re seeing him back on the floor,” said Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri ahead of the game on Magenta Sport.
In the first half, Munich were still dominated by the guests. Hamburg’s Caleb Homesley scored 25 points there, including 16 in the last three minutes before half-time. So the Towers had rushed to 46:28. At the beginning of the second quarter, Munich experienced a moment of shock: Nick Weiler-Babb fell to the ground after attempting to dunk, was unconscious and had to be carried off the floor on a stretcher.
FC Bayern’s second guard turns up the heat
Thanks to an 11-0 start in the second half, Munich found their rhythm and shook off the shock.
The hosts reduced the lead to 58:60 before the final section and turned the game around with an 11:0 run in the fourth round.
Above all, the big guard around Munich’s top scorer Augustine Rubit (16 points) turned up the heat. In the end, the table leader had dominated the second half with 58:29.
Both teams made a mark of peace against the Russian invasion of Ukraine by wearing ‘No More War’ t-shirts during the warm-up and on the bench. In addition, the players presented a banner with the same inscription before kick-off.