By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After 12 straight losses, Alba Berlin finally felt the sweet taste of victory as they beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 91-79 in Round 16 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
Jaleen Smith led the way for the winning side with 21 points and six rebounds.
“The shots they hit in the first half, they started missing in the second. Credit to our bigs who cleared up the glass, and they couldn’t get second-point chances. It’s a relief, but we are still hungry. We got a long way to go,” Smith said after the game.
Johannes Thiemann followed him with 14 points, while Ben Lammers went near a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Maodo Lo added 12 points as well, while Louis Olinde scored 10.
Charles Kahudi was the top scorer for Asvel with 14 points, Alex Tyus added 13 with nine rebounds, Retin Obasohan had 12, and Nando De Kolo had 10 points.
“Congratulations to Berlin, they played a good game, they played their basketball. We can see that they could’ve won every game they lost. When you let them develop the way they want to play offensively, you can’t make an offensive game against them,” TJ Parker stated at the press conference.
Asvel had a 12-point lead after the first 10 minutes (27-15). They stayed in front in the second period, but Alba showed signs of improvement and trimmed the deficit to just two points with a couple of powerful runs.
After going back and forth in the third period, Alba took control with an 8-0 run in the final moments. That gave wings to the German champions, who continued dominating, and soon in the final quarter, they grabbed a 15-point lead. Asvel tried to come back, but Alba stayed in front and won.
“Very happy for the players. They passed through some difficult moments, with so many defeats. We never lost chemistry and always played together. That is very important for now and the future, and that is keeping us alive,” the head coach of Alba Israel Gonzalez said.