Mike James pours in 18 points, dominant Monaco ease past Bayern / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Alfonso Cannavacciuolo/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images Credit Alfonso Cannavacciuolo/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

AS Monaco (5-4) got a comfortable victory over FC Bayern Munich (3-6) 94-71 (27-20, 28-23, 17-17, 22-11) to redeem themselves after a crushing loss against Olympiacos Piraeus in last week's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game.

Player of the Game EFF 18 Mike James Points 18 Accuracy 5-8 Rebounds 0 Assists 4

After the equal third quarter, Monaco did not let Bayern feel their rhythm. Donta Hall made a spectacular alley-oop dunk and extended a victorious Monaco's stretch to 8-2. Zvezdan Mitrovic's squad were in front by 16 points (76-60) with 5 minutes to play.

Dwayne Bacon, Mike James, and Will Thomas buckets sealed the deal for Monaco (86-64), as the last minutes were a mere formality.

Monaco started the duel strongly, arranging a 10-2 run. Leo Westermann scored 8 points in the first 2.5 minutes of the game. Even though Monaco's lead reached a double-digit mark (23-12), Bayern managed to cut the deficit to 7 points (20-27) before the first quarter's end.

After Monaco's 8-2 spurt in the second period, their advantage marked 14 points (49-35). Dwayne Bacon was playing a successful stretch. Both clubs went to the locker room while the scoreboard was showing 55-43.

Mike James led the route for the winners, accumulating 18 points (3/4 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 6/6 FT), 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 4 drawn fouls, and 18 PIR.

"It was a very important game for us, especially because we have this double-round trip next week with Tel Aviv and Istanbul. We played a really great offensive first half. In the second half, we were more focused on our defense," underlined Zvezdan Mitrovic.

"We really respect Bayern. We had two days to practice, prepare and we really showed the results on the court. How we played and the motivation, the energy, and everything, it was great," finished the head coach of Monaco.

Vladimir Lucic was the brightest athlete of Bayern Munich, posting 15 points (4/5 2PT, 2/2 3PT, 1/2 FT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 6 drawn fouls, and 23 PIR.

"I believe Monaco deserved the win. They were better at both ends of the court - offense and defense. And we had a poor performance. In the first half, we were horrible on defense. But somehow we were moving the ball a little bit," commented Andrea Trinchieri.

"In the second half, we tried to be better on defense but we turned the ball over too often. So it was a bad, bad game for us. It happens. Now we have to analyze what we have to do better so that this kind of game doesn’t happen again," stressed the Italian mastermind.

Monaco: Mike James 18 (4 AST), Danilo Andjusic 16, Dwayne Bacon 16 (3 REB), Leo Westermann 13 (3 REB), Will Thomas 13.

Bayern: Vladimir Lucic 15 (4 REB), Othello Hunter 14, Deshaun Thomas 10 (5 REB), Augustine Rubit 10.

Highlights

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