By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Payton Siva was back in action, Zalgiris Kaunas couldn’t buy a bucket from the long-range, and ALBA Berlin got the 69-62 home win.
Siva finished the game with four points and six assists, while Niels Giffey with 13 points and Martin Hermannsson with 11 led a balanced effort.
The first half ended with the hosts having a 32-26 lead after a poor shooting performance from both teams. Zalgiris made just one three in 16 attempts, while ALBA had in total 11/30 field goals. It wasn’t pretty, and things didn’t really change in the second half.
Zalgiris cut ALBA’s lead to one (42-41), and finally, thanks to a three by Nigel Hayes got a 44-42 lead with three minutes left in the third quarter. The hosts managed to get the edge back at the end of the period (47-46), and the game was still on the line.
ALBA started the last quarter with an 11-4 run (58-50), while Zalgiris had 2/21 threes. Ironically, the Lithuanian forward of ALBA, Rokas Giedriatis, with a three, made the score 67-56 with two minutes left. There was no coming back for Zalgiris after that. “We made a lot of mental mistakes, we gave a lot of easy points to ALBA, we don’t look like a very smart team right now,” said Zalgiris coach Sarunas Jasikevicius.
Zack LeDay scored 15 points for the losing side, but couldn’t save the day for the guests who dropped to a 3-8 record, while ALBA is over them at 4-7.
“I really don’t know what to say.”
The disappointment of Jasikevicius in the press conference was obvious: “I really don’t know what to say, to be honest with you. Congratulations to our fans who came to Berlin and created a great atmosphere. We were not on the level of them. We have to find ways to put a fight on the court, and we will do our best”.
Referring to the 2/23 threes of his team, Saras admitted: “They didn’t go in, and it was a huge problem.”
“It was a great victory for our team in a very different month. We played 11 games in November, and we had just three practices at home. So I think we should be really happy. We played great defense despite still missing players due to injuries (ed. note: Tyler Cavanaugh and Johannes Thiemann), and we should continue playing this kind of defense in the future”.
Photo credit: EuroLeague