Second consecutive victory for Alba Berlin, which prevailed 81-76 over the heartbreaking Armani Milano and is coming to OAKA to face Panathinaikos (10/12).
Protagonists for the Germans, which went up to 5-8, Erickson (21 points with 5/8 three points), Lo (12 points, 6 assists) and Sikma (9 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds).
On the other, Messina’s team was forced to a 4th defeat in a row and fell to 8-5. For the Italians, who were found to lose even with a difference of 17 points, Haynes (10 points), Shields (9 points, 5 assists) stood out. Newly acquired Bentley made a positive debut (8 points, 6 rebounds).
The match
With Honey to look… hot, Armani Milano started better and took a small lead (5-8 in 3 ‘). Nevertheless, Messina’s team was trapped in the defensive “calipers” of the hosts, who ran 14-2 and escaped with +9 (19-10 in 7 ‘). The answer of the Italians came with 5-0, which brought them to -4 in the final of the season (19-15).
The guests came back and equalized with Dilleni to get ahead (24-24 in 14 ‘). Somewhere there, Erickson took action, who led Alba to +10 (38-28 in 18 ‘) with big three-pointers. Gonthaleth’s players maintained the double-digit difference until the end of the half and went to the locker room for the break with the score at 43-33.
The Germans came in; furious in the 3rd period and with Erickson continuing from where he left off in the first half, they shot up to +17 (60-43 in 25 ‘), at a time when Messina’s players had lost. In the final of the quarter, Armani Milano got serious and reduced a bit (67-56), with Shields and Meli holding it upright.
In the first minutes of the 4th period, the Italians put pressure on the defense, which paid off, as they approached within breathing distance (69-66 in 33 ‘). The final was shocking, however the Alba players kept their composure and taking advantage of their superiority in the rebounds, held the lead (77-76) with 92 seconds left.
Two shots by Erickson and a well-aimed two-pointer by Lamers at 35 ” formed the final 81-76 for the team of Berlin, since the players of Messina did not have the way to connect with the opponent’s basket in the last seconds.
The quarters: 19-15, 43-33, 67-56, 81-76.
See the match statistics here
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