By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
ALBA Berlin almost pulled an upset that would end KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz’s playoffs hopes, but with three seconds left, Matt Janning scored a three, and his team got the close 73-72 win.
Toko Shengelia finished the job by blocking Luke Sikma’s last shot for the game, and Baskonia, with a 12-16 record is part of a five-way tie in the 9th position of the standings just one win away from the playoffs line.
Not bad at all, because ALBA was leading 59-48 with ten minutes left in the game, after building a 16-point advantage (51-35) in the third period and closing the first half with the score being 39-29 in their favor.
Shengelia, with 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, led the charge for the winners, while Janning scored 10 points. “It is a very important triple,” he said after the game. “For me personally, I haven’t shot the ball great this year, but that is an important one. And just for us as a team. We are up and down, up and down. The last week we played really well, today we didn’t play well, we really didn’t deserve to win until the last 12 minutes of the game. But we will take it”.
Marcus Erikkson, with 16 points, led a balanced effort by ALBA, which once more couldn’t close the game the right way, despite leading 68-63 with less than three minutes left.
Baskonia finished the game with a 10-4 run with Janning and Shengelia scoring five points each. After this result, ALBA dropped to a 9-19 record.
“We believed we could win”
Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic knew that despite a bad first half, his team could rise to the challenge: “Before the game, we knew clearly, if we play 40 minutes aggressively, with contact, good defense, we will have a possibility to win. In the first 20 minutes, we did not play like that. We left them many options for three-point shots, easy combinations, easy baskets in the low post. In the second half, we played more aggressively. And I think it was our faith; we believed we could win. But in the next game, our belief will not be enough. We need to play strong for 40 minutes. Tonight we had identity and pride.”
Photo credit: EuroLeague