92:84 against Monaco in the Euroleague: Alba Berlin wins last home game with spectators – sport
The arena at Ostbahnhof wasn’t exactly a cauldron, but at least 2000 spectators came to Alba Berlin’s game against AS Monaco on Wednesday evening. That was enough to mostly drown out guest trainer Sasa Obradovic – and nowhere else they know how difficult that is better than here. In the last home game of Berlin in front of at least partially occupied stands, before only the squeaking of the shoes on the floor and the screams of the opposing coaches will be heard again from December 28th and probably for a long time in the halls, Alba delighted the audience with a win. After the last three Euroleague defeats in a row, the hosts prevailed 92:84 (23:21, 17: 9, 29:26, 23:28). The best Berlin throwers were Ben Lammers (18 points), Marcus Eriksson (15), Maodo Lo (12) and Jaleen Smith (10).
At Alba it wasn’t enough for Christ Koumadje to return to the squad after his ankle injury, but otherwise things looked good for coach Israel Gonzalez’s team. The guests from the Principality got off to a better start, however, as the Eurocup winners with a lot of money and prominent commitments in their very first Euroleague season. With Leo Westermann Monaco had to do without a top player, but with Donatas Montiejunas and Mike James there are also so many outstanding basketball players on the floor.
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The Lithuanian center in particular caused enormous problems for Alba in the first quarter. After seven minutes he already had 14 points on the account and thus quickly as many as the entire Berlin team. But that changes quickly, because Alba is getting better and better into the game. Shortly before the end of the first section of the game, the hosts went into the lead for the first time through Louis Olinde. The fact that Obradovic was now much more active on the sidelines was a clear sign of the turn the game was beginning to take. That intensified in the second quarter, in which Monaco hardly succeeded in offensively. So the Berliners went into halftime with a ten point lead.
It didn’t take a lot of imagination to imagine the volume in the guest cabin – and that seemed to have an effect at least in the offensive game. Mike James in particular turned it up and showed why he was one of the most dominant players in the Euroleague at CSKA Moscow. Alba didn’t let this disturb her and continued to score consistently. Above all, Lammers finished extremely efficiently.
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The last ten minutes started with a 13-point lead in Berlin, but this quickly melted away. Alba lost the thread offensively and was unlucky that the referee did not decide on an unsportsmanlike foul when Johannes Thiemann hit him hard in the face. On the other hand, as James (top scorer with 25 points) tore the game even further, Monaco was already 74:76 in the middle of the last quarter and another turn was in the air.
But with a lot of struggle and a few short throws from Yovel Zoosman and Maodo Lo es Alba, they managed to capture the important home win and draw level with Monaco in the table. 2000 fans died their last visit to Halle, celebrating at least one victory for an indefinite period of time.