By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Leading by 14 points (27-13) after the first quarter, ALBA Berlin couldn’t stay ahead against AS Monaco, eventually losing to the Monegasque side 90-82 in the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
With this victory, Sasa Obradovic‘s team stays third in the standings at 19-10, while the German team is at the bottom at 5-24.
Providing a team-high 21 points with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 6 fouls drawn, Elie Okobo captured ALBA Berlin’s defensive attention, leading AS Monaco to victory.
“Win is a win, we have to take the good stuff. We kept our composure, we showed character”, he commented after the victory.
After becoming the All-Time EuroLeague Scoring Leader last week against Crvena Zvezda, Mike James contributed to his team’s victory with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
ALBA couldn’t keep up
On ALBA Berlin’s side, Matt Thomas led Israel Gonzalez’s team in scoring with 14 points, followed by Johannes Thiemann’s 11 points and 7 rebounds. Khalifa Koumadje, Yanni Wetzell, and Sterling Brown tried to contribute by putting up 10 points each, but they weren’t enough for the German side to keep up the rhythm.
“We fought, we played great basketball for a lot of moments. It’s okay to have such defeats against a good team like Monaco. It’s a pity, we would like to win, but sometimes there are things we can’t really control”, the Spanish head coach said.
Going close to the end of a disappointing season, ALBA Berlin will face 1st seed Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes in next week’s double-game action; AS Monaco will play at home in both next week’s encounters against Milano and Valencia, fighting for the playoffs.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague