By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A game winning floater by Dragan Milosavljevic with 5 seconds to go, gave the German Cup to Alba Berlin in the Final against Bayern Munich (67 – 65). This is the 9th Cup in the history of the club from Berlin, which returned to titles after the sterile 2014/2015 season.
Coach Obradovic‘s players could have won the game easier, since Elmedin Kikanovic had already given a lead of 8 to his team, 95 seconds before the end of the match. The otherwise brilliant in the last minutes Kresimir Loncar, made an unsportsmanlike foul which gave Bayern the necessary extra possessions to tie the match, via a big downtown shot by Dusko Savanovic. But Milosavljevic’s personal bucket prevented his team from committing something close to a suicide.
The two teams started the game quite nervously, with poor shooting selections and many mistakes and the first period ended with the poor 11-13 in favor of Alba Berlin. However, everything was completely different in the second quarter.
Thanks to the guidance of Jordan Cobbs, at first, and Alex Renfroe, later, Bayern Munich found some good open shots, taking a lead which was furtherly expanded with the help of Deon Thompson. The halftime ended 34 – 25 and coach Pesic’s players looked in control.
Alba Berlin had some ugly shooting percentages, going into the second half (less than 35% at field goals) but all that the team needed, was a small outburst. Jordan Taylor made the start with 5 really quick points and then Alex King stole the ball and run the transition to win the foul that gave his team the lead, 38 – 39. Although the momentum had obviously shifted sides, Bayern took advantage of certain mistakes of their opponents, not allowing them to continue increasing the rhythm of their game.
With 10 minutes to go, the score was 43 – 43 and everything was up for grabs. The lead was changing hands rapidly until Elmedin Kikanovic decided to place it in Alba’s hands for the 56-60. Dragan Milosavljevic then made it 58 – 63 from behind the arc, but this was not the only crucial shot he kept in his pockets, as he personally sealed the final outcome, which found Alba Berlin as the winner of the German Cup.