FC Bayern’s dress rehearsal for the Top Four of the BBL Cup in Munich this weekend was a success: in a close match, the hosts ultimately deserved their victory against a strong Skyliners Frankfurt team.
However, it was clear that the Munich team already had their minds on the Top Four match against Bamberg at the weekend. Without Andi Obst and Stefan Jovic, who were rested, they had a difficult start to the game offensively, struggled to get going and found themselves trailing by double digits after just a few minutes. FCBB coach Svetislav Pesic was also noticeably dissatisfied with his players’ performance and had a few choice words for Johannes Voigtmann and later Isiaha Mike on the bench. The Frankfurt team, on the other hand, seemed to have put their bitter overtime defeat against the Lions behind them and overwhelmed the home team with their energy right from the start. In the first half, they didn’t give Munich a chance on the boards (24 to 13), doing a great job on the Bayern boards in particular (13 offensive rebounds!).
It was all the more frustrating from the Skyliners’ point of view that they let their opponents back into the game at the end of the half. A 13-point lead was reduced to a narrow two-point lead at halftime within a few minutes after two three-pointers by Justus Hollatz and Xavier Rathan-Mayes.
FC Bayern with a strong finish
They carried this momentum into the second half and, after a quick 5-0 run at the start of the quarter, took their first lead since the middle of the first quarter. The game remained close for a long time, with Niels Giffey providing the highlight of the game so far with a thunderous post dunk over center Jacob Knauf. However, FC Bayern was unable to build on this momentum, and the FCBB went into the final quarter trailing 68-66.
Frankfurt got off to the better start there, before another evenly matched battle developed. David McCormack (21 points, career high, plus 5 rebounds) provided important scoring for Bayern during this period, while Jaedon Le Dee (21 points, 9 rebounds) was the driving force for the Skyliners. Giffey finally sealed the deal when he was beautifully set free by Johannes Voigtmann and sank a three-pointer to give his team a five-point lead with 90 seconds remaining. Rathan-Mayes then sealed the deal from outside in the ensuing possession.
Giffey finished with ten points, Rathan-Mayes contributed 15 points, and Mike 13. For Frankfurt, who will not play again until March 6 at MBC, Isaiah Swope also impressed with 15 points alongside Le Dee.
