Punter Carries Barcelona Through in Munich as Bayern Falls 84-88

Barcelona earned a hard-fought victory in Munich against Bayern (84-88) and extended their EuroLeague winning streak to three games (5-3), but the team finished the contest without their three point guards: Umoja Gibson sat out the second half with a knee injury, Justin Robinson fouled out with five minutes remaining, and Juan Núñez twisted his ankle in the final minutes. In that scenario, Kevin Punter stepped up for the team.

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A Game of Runs

Bayern came out hot, with Rokas Jokubaitis running the offense and dunks from Miles Norris, two former Barcelona players on the German squad, putting the hosts ahead. Barcelona responded with Punter and Tyrese Martin, took the lead for the first time, and closed the first quarter up four (17-21), after leading by as much as eight.

The second quarter started with a Barcelona scoring drought that Bayern capitalized on with a 9-0 run. From there, the game became a back-and-forth affair: Barcelona tried to pull away and the Germans answered with Norris and Andreas Obst. A 2+1 from Washington put Bayern ahead at halftime (42-41), after a quarter in which they allowed 25 points.

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Nebo Supports, Punter Decides

After halftime, Josh Nebo was Barcelona's main support in the paint and a three-pointer from Punter gave the lead back to the blaugrana. Bayern always found an answer, with three-pointers from Obst and Norris and penetrations from Washington, but Barcelona entered the fourth quarter ahead (61-64).

The final period was played with Barcelona always in front, with leads between one and five points. Without Gibson and with Robinson fouled out, Juan Núñez kept his team afloat until he twisted his ankle. At that moment Punter appeared, scoring the baskets that sealed the game, as he had done in previous matches.

The New York shooting guard finished with 23 points, and Nebo added 12 points and 9 rebounds. For Bayern, Norris and Jokubaitis scored 17 each. The Germans, with many turnovers, fall to 2-6.