In the end, 15 points from winger Louis Olinde were not enough in Valencia Photo: picture alliance / nordphoto GmbH
From BZ/dpa
Alba Berlin suffered its second defeat in five games in the Basketball Euroleague. On Thursday evening, the weakened Berliners lost to the Spanish top team Valencia Baskets 73:87 (39:50).
The best Berlin throwers were Louis Olinde and Christ Koumadje with 15 points each.
Coach Israel Gonzalez was still without the injured quintet of Maodo Lo, Johannes Thiemann, Jaleen Smith, Jonas Mattisseck and Marcus Eriksson. And the Berlin core team came under pressure from the start in Valencia. In the first few minutes, the guests ran after a deficit.
Alba seemed tired and unfocused and made too many mistakes and lost possession. In the middle of the second quarter, the gap was in double digits for the first time (24:35). The Berliners were then able to fight back to three points (39:42), but a weak phase shortly before the break caused the gap to increase again.
Even after the change of sides, Alba rarely managed to stop the hosts’ offensive. The Spaniards always had an answer to good actions by the Berliners. The guests fought to the end, but they couldn’t come closer than nine points.