Alba’s Sterling Brown against Panathinaikos’ Luca Vildoza and Aleksander Balcerowski; With 17 points he was Berlin’s best thrower Photo: picture alliance / nordphoto GmbH / Engler | nordphoto GmbH / Engler
From BZ/dpa
Alba Berlin has suffered another defeat in the Euroleague. On Friday evening, the Bundesliga basketball team lost to the top Greek team Panathinaikos Athens 85:99 (47:60) in front of 13,247 spectators.
This means Alba remains in the bottom of the table with just one win from seven games. The best Berlin throwers were Sterling Brown with 17 and world champion Johannes Thiemann with 16 points.
The Greeks were cheered on by numerous fans in the hall. And that seemed to inspire the team. The favorite took the lead from the start. But Alba held up well, acted at eye level and stuck with it. At the beginning of the second quarter, the hosts even took the lead by two points (31:29).
But Athens responded with an even tougher defense, which made things difficult for Alba. In addition, there were some questionable referee decisions to their disadvantage. And when Panathinaikos hit almost all of its three-point shots, the deficit grew to 16 points (44:60).
The Berliners defended themselves to the best of their ability even after the break. A good seven minutes before the end, Alba was back to six points (78:84).
But nothing more was possible. Because that evening, Panathinaikos always had a suitable answer.