Thanks to their fourth-quarter run, Alba beat bottom of Villeurbanne 88-71 in the 34th and final game of the EuroLeague regular season and now await their final ranking from the remaining games on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, dropping them to 17th. Panathinaikos.
The match was a derby for many periods, with the “Albatross” maintaining the lead throughout the lead, but not escaping the score, but consecutive runs in the fourth period brought +15 and +19.
Leaders of the German champions were Sikma and Olinde with 12, Tiemann with 11 and Smith, Lammers with 10 points. For the French champions, Fal stood out with 15, De Colo with 13 and Matthews with 12 points.
The match
The attacking versatility of the Germans brought +6 at the start of the match, but Tyus’ personal 4-0 run was reduced to -1 for the French champions. Tiemann’s personal 5-0 run made it 14-8 for the Albatross and, despite Villerban’s -1 4-0 run and Fahl’s efforts, Alba maintained +4 to +6 and reached 20-16 at the end of the first quarter.
Alba held a +2 to +4 at the start of the second period, with Tiemann starring again in that period for the BBL champions. A 5-0 run by Germanon brought +6 and Smith’s three-pointer +7 for the Gonzalez players. A 7-0 run by Villeurbanne tied it at 32-32 with an offensive flurry, Alba responded with a 4-0 run and De Colo made it 38-36 at halftime. The “albatross” had 12/14 two-pointers and 23 rebounds and the French 6/5 shots and 22 rebounds.
Lighty’s 3-pointer put Villeurbanne up 1 at the start of the third period, and the lead began to alternate steadily between the two teams in the ensuing period. The German’s two straight 3-pointers fueled an 8-0 run to make it 52-44, and a 4-0 run made it +10 for the 1995 champion Korats. A 4-0 run by Villeurbanne cut it to 56-50, but Alba’s 5-0 run made it +11 and 65-54 at the end of the quarter.
Vetzel helped spark a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter for the Germans’ 71-57 lead, but Matthews’ 4-0 run cut it to -10. Sikma took the situation into his own hands and with a personal 4-0 streak helped the Germans maintain +12 to +14. Lammers’ 3-pointer made it 80-65 and Smith’s made it 85-67 and the two 3-pointers on either side made the final 88-71.
The quarters: 20-16, 38-36, 65-54, 88-71
The statistics
Source: Sport Fm
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