By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
ALBA was playing without Louis Olinde, Matt Thomas, Marcus Eriksson, Ziga Samar, and Sterling Brown, so the hosts simply couldn’t score, having just 11 healthy players on the roster.
However Johannes Thiemann scored 16 points, Jonas Mattisseck made a big play in the closing seconds and with a three gave ALBA the 64-62 win over stunned Zalgiris Kaunas, just their second after 12 rounds of EuroLeague action.
“It feels really good because we put the work in, we try to win every game and be competitive”, said Thiemann.
“It’s a tough situation and see everybody fight and pushing despite a losing streak of five games, it’s great”, he added.
Dovydas Giedraitis with 15 points and Tomas Disma with 11 were the only scorers in double digits for Zalgiris which was also missing injured Brady Manek and Arnas Butkevicius but still, there’s no comparison between the importance of missing players.
“I am so proud of the team, winning or losing, with all the problems that we have and playing like this the results will come back”, said ALBA coach Israel Gonzalez.
An ugly game with a thrilling ending
The game started with Zalgiris taking a 20-4 lead after seven minutes of play.
Still, the Lithuanians completed the first 20 minutes of action with 15 turnovers but still led 28-25 entering the third quarter because ALBA was shooting just 23.8% in two-pointers and 33,3% in threes.
Thanks to a 6-0 run, Zalgiris got a 41-34 lead and while ALBA reacted, the Lithuanians had a six-point advantage at the start of the last period.
ALBA tried to get close but first Danielius Lavrinovicius with a three (48-41) and then Disma with one more (53-46) kept a long enough distance for Zalgiris.
The guests led even by nine (55-46) and then ALBA suddenly took the game over, tying the score to 59 with two minutes left.
“We had a couple of possibilities to close the game and we didn’t, ALBA fought until the end and they won”, said Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis whose team dropped to 5-7.
A big three by Giedriatis broke the tie (62-59), but Thiemann trimmed the lead to one (62-61), Mattisseck stole the ball and with a big three gave the 64-62 win.
With six seconds left, Udgaras Ulanovas had one last shot, however, his three-pointer attempt fell short.
“For sure it wasn’t the prettiest game to watch, but it was a fight”, admitted Thiemann.