By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
ALBA Berlin made a huge comeback in the second half to defeat Zenit St. Petersburg on the road 83-81 for Round 25 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The German side now improves to a 9-16 record, thanks to a big-time performance by Martin Hermansson. He exited the game with 24 points, seven assists and four rebounds to lead ALBA to its ninth victory of the season. Zenit fought until the last second, with Tim Abromaitis even hitting the final-buzzer shot.
“I think we just stuck to the game plan. We knew that if we could get stops and we could run, we would have a chance against a really god Zenit team. I am so proud of my team, especially after winning the cup in Germany last Sunday, especially after having a lot of guys injured”, said Hermansson after the game.
Rokas Giedratis complemented Hermansson’s efforts with 14 points and three rebounds.
On the other end of the court, Will Thomas led all Zenit scorers with 19 points, followed by Austin Hollins who tapped 15 points.
Hermansson’s heroic effort pays off
Hollins and Thomas paced Zenit in the first half, in the first game under the guidance of Xavi Pascual, as the Russian side managed to keep a 42-38 lead at halftime. The hosts even used a 13-5 run, up to the middle point of the third period to get ahead with a double-digit lead (55-43), led by Abromaitis (11 points) and Hollins. Hermansson stepped up to trim the deficit towards the end of the period, as Zenit held on to a 64-58 advantage after 30′.
Tyler Cavanaugh gave the German side the upper hand (70-68) (35′) and Hermansson expanded the advantage to 77-72 with 2:36 remaining. The momentum turned to be on ALBA’s side who went away with the victory in the end through a 25-17 run in the fourth period.
Photo: EuroLeague