By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
ALBA Berlin completed the regular season with an impressive win at home against ASVEL. The German side got the job done in a strong second half for a 88-71 triumph.
“Congratulations to the players who played their fifth game in 10 days with only one day off after every game. It’s amazing. Its very difficult because the EuroLeague level is always very high and it is great to be able to survive these 10 days. We finished the EuroLeague season well, winning the last game, competing in Baskonia and Barcelona. We ended the season well, taking into account how the season has been, especially when we probably have the lowest budget in the EuroLeague and the youngest team in a league, where experience is very important”, said Israel Gonzalez, ALBA head coach.
ALBA got its second straight win and at least ended the season with a home victory in front of its fans. Despite the nature of this game there was intensity with the two teams being very competitive in the first 20 minutes.
ASVEL managed to stay close before the break, with ALBA holding a tight 38-36 lead heading into halftime. Yet, the hosts scored 50 points in the second half to cruise past the guests.
Avoiding the bottom of the standings…
ALBA improved to 11-23 record and could even finish 15th in the event both Panathinaikos and FC Bayern Munich lose on the last day of the regular season. After the 13th consecutive loss for ASVEL dropped it to 8-26 and it finishes the campaign bottom of the EuroLeague table.
Luke Sikma and Louis Olinde had 12 points, and Johannes Thiemann added 11. For the French since Youssoupha Fall had 14 points.
“In the first half we played decent basketball. After that, in the second half, when you have a collapse of two or three minutes against Berlin, you know that they will punish you. It was tough in the second half, but congratulations to them.” T.J. Parker, ASVEL head coach added.