The basketball players from Alba Berlin continue to lag behind the competition in the Euroleague.
The Bundesliga team clearly lost to the top Spanish team Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 71:88 (34:42). After the 23rd defeat in the 28th game, Alba remains at the bottom of Europe’s premier class. The best Berlin throwers were Khalifa Koumadje and Matt Thomas with twelve points each.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to miss almost an entire team due to injury. World champion Johannes Thiemann (inner ligament), Gabriele Procida (knee), Matteo Spagnolo (torn hamstring) and Justin Bean (muscular problems) were unable to play. The skeleton team started the game badly and was behind 8-2 after just over two minutes.
The Berliners had an incredibly difficult time offensively and then missed even the simple throws. By the end of the first quarter the deficit had already reached double digits (8:20). It wasn’t until the middle of the second half that the guests scored better and were able to at least halve a 16-point deficit by halftime.
Now both teams acted on equal terms for a short time. But Alba hardly managed to stop the hosts’ offensive, so the deficit did not decrease. At the beginning of the fourth period, Baskonia pulled away to 20 points (69:49). A brief rebellion from the guests in the final phase did nothing to change the clear defeat.