Euroleague Recap; Bayern Muchen and Real Madrid win at home

The two-round week for November continued Thursday with the first two games of Round 11. Home-court advantage was the order of the day once again as both FC Bayern Munich and Real Madrid won in front of their fans. Bayern rallied from a 9-point deficit with 6 minutes remaining to edge Panathinaikos 81-78. Darrun Hilliard led the way with 20 points. Real took charge in the second half to beat Crvena Zvezda 79-67 behind 15 points from Walter Tavares. Round 11 concludes with seven Friday games, including Milan visiting Zenit and Barcelona heading to ASVEL. The visitors in both those games must win to keep pace with Real, which at 9-2 sits atop the standings.

FC Bayern Munich 81-78 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens

FC Bayern Munich came back from 9 down in the fourth quarter to edge Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 81-78 in a thriller at Audi Dome on Thursday night. The result lifted Bayern’s record to 5-6 and sent Panathinaikos to 2-9 with its fifth straight loss. After trailing for nearly all of the middle two quarters, Bayern took the lead through DeShaun Thomas on the first basket of the fourth quarter. However, Daryl Macon Jr. led a 0-10 Panathinaikos response with a triple and two assists to give the Greens a 61-70 advantage with 6 minutes remaining. Bayern battled back, took the lead on a Vladimir Lucic three-pointer with 29 seconds to go, and held on thanks to 4 late free throws by Augustine Rubit before Nemanja Nedovic missed a tough contested three to tie it at the buzzer. Darrun Hilliard paced the Bayern attack with 20 points, Thomas finished with 15, and Rubit had 12. Ioannis Papapetrou led the visitors with 17 points, and Macon added 12 points and six assists.

Real Madrid 79-67 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade

Real Madrid claimed its fourth consecutive win when it routed visiting Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 79-67 at WiZink Center on Thursday night. After a tight first half that ended with a 32-32 tie, the home team took control of the game in the third quarter to get a 57-46 edge entering the last stanza. An 11-3 run early in the final period granted Real a 19-point advantage that it never relinquished. Los Blancos improved to 9-2 to go to bed atop the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, while the guests finished the double week with two defeats that dropped their record to 4-7. Walter Tavares led the winners with 15 points, four rebounds, and four blocks for a PIR of 23. Vincent Poirier followed him with 14 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes, and Adam Hanga chipped in 11 points and grabbed six boards. Austin Hollins paced Zvezda with 16 points, and Maik Zirbes contributed 12 in the losing effort.