Israel Gonzalez’s team won the tight top game at FC Bayern Munich 83:78 (41:34). The top scorer in Berlin was Jaleen Smith with 24 points. With the success in Munich, the defending champion ends the regular season with a series of eleven games won.
Jaleen Smith outstanding
FC Bayern had to complete the match without coach Andrea Trinchieri. The coach is said to have left the hall immediately before the start of the game for health reasons. The Berliners started the game with a 7-0 run, while the home side consistently missed their shots. After Jaleen Smith had sunk his three-point attempt to make it 10-0, FCB took their first time-out.
Led by Nihad Djedovic, the Munich team then got into the game better and with an 8-0 run they came close to the Albatrosses, who in turn missed their long-range shots several times. From the end of the first quarter, an exciting top game developed.
In the second quarter, the guests from Berlin initially had little success. But after Bayern took the lead for a short time, the Berliners got more access to the game. Apart from Maodo Lo, who couldn’t find his throwing rhythm from distance in the first half, the guests impressed with an effective shooting rate both under the basket and from beyond the three-point line. Smith did not miss three three-point attempts from a distance in the first round.
Exciting to the end
After the change of sides, the home side, led by Andreas Obst’s strong throwing hand, picked up again. In the middle of the third quarter, the Berliners missed ten times in a row – including four free throws. The guests were lucky that Bayern were only five points ahead of them at this stage of the game. At the end of the third period, a successful long-distance shot and a dunking by Oscar da Silva put the Berliners back in the lead (58:56).
The fourth quarter developed into a furious top game in which both teams went on the offensive. With the score at 79:78, a ball loss by Munich’s Weiler-Babb ten seconds before the end decided the game – which ultimately ended with a 83:78 for the guests.
Alba Berlin will start the playoffs next Friday (7 p.m.) and meet Brose Bamberg in the quarter-finals.
Source: rbb