By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Trailing by 13 points in the first half, ALBA Berlin came all the way back to stun Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet, 87-72, in Aleksandar Nikolic Hall Friday.
Driving the visitors and mainly responsible for silencing the crowd, experienced guard Maodo Lo dropped 18 of his 24 points in the second half of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 25 contest. Banking in 9/11 field goals, including three triples, the former Columbia standout fell one point shy of setting a new season-high. Adding three steals, three assists, and one rebound helped build up a game-high PIR of 26.
“We went into halftime with a deficit which was not too big. So, we had the chance to get back in the game in the second half,” Lo described the comeback, “We were able to get some stops and run, get some sort of rhythm. This helped us for the rest of the game.”
Down 13 points late in the first quarter, the team coached by Israel Gonzalez outscored the hosts in the remaining three quarters. Further improvement in the second half with Lo taking over, the advantage grew into double-digits. The defense forced difficult options, especially early in the fourth quarter as ALBA pulled away with the lead peaking at 15 points.
“We were very good in rebounds and controlled better the turnovers in the second half,” Gonzalez referred to the 38-24 edge on the boards and his side committing only eight turnovers after the first period, “And the spirit of the players today.” The Albatrosse, reigning champions in Germany, jumped to 7-18 with a third win on the road across 12 away games this season.
“We are very happy to get a win here, in a very intense atmosphere,” said Louis Olinde after contributing 13 points and seven rebounds, “We came out good, aggressive, good defense, shared the ball in the offense.”
On the opposite end, the Serbian powerhouse was coming off six straight wins in all competitions, including capturing the Radivoj Korac Cup last week. But fell to 11-14 with the sixth loss in 12 home affairs so far in EuroLeague’s Regular Season. Filip Petrusev recorded a team-high 14 points in the losing effort.
“In the second half, we didn’t play the defense necessary to win this game, especially in transition. We had many problems in one-on-one situations. But also in offense, we were looking only for three-pointers. Sometimes, you can win with three-pointers, but not a serious, close game,” summed up losing head coach Dusko Ivanovic.
Zvezda ready to get a huge boost
Facundo Campazzo is on international duty but will be eligible to debut in the 2022-23 edition of EuroLeague next week as the ban preventing Crvena Zvezda from registering new players will be lifted at the end of February. John Holland, Miroslav Raduljica, and Dalibor Ilic were inactive in Round 25 as well.
Set to miss several weeks with a left shoulder injury, Yovel Zoosman joined Marcus Eriksson (foot) on the list of unavailable players. The German side updated the status of the Israeli swingman before tipoff. Malte Delow was a healthy scratch and Tim Schneider did not play.
Shifting the focus to Round 26, the Red-Whites will visit FC Bayern Munich and the Berlin outfit will be back in Belgrade to face Partizan Mozzart Bet. Both games are scheduled for next Thursday.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net