Christ Koumadje versus Gottingen’s Rayshaun Hammonds Photo: picture alliance / Eibner-Presse
By Nicolas Sowa
Defending champion Alba Berlin has reached the cup finals of the basketball Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, the Berliners clearly won 99:71 (51:46) at BG Göttingen after an increase in performance in the second half.
Alba successfully took revenge for the first defeat of the season in the league a week earlier. Best Berlin throwers were Malte Delow with 18 points and Luke Sikma with 14 points.
After the narrow bankruptcy last Sunday, Alba was warned and started with a 6-0 start with a high degree of concentration. The hosts countered the hectic game with a lot of physique and quickly balanced the game again. Although the Berliners were always in the lead, they were never able to break away in the first half.
Alba always found it difficult against the physically active Lower Saxony. They kept trying to pick up the pace, but they made too many mistakes. They allowed too much, especially under the basket.
Louis Olinde with a layup Photo: picture alliance / Eibner-Presse
So Göttingen kept coming back. The lead of the defending champion was never more than eight points (50:42) in the first half.
After the change of sides, Alba came out of the cabin as if transformed. The Berliners now acted much more consistently and no longer allowed the hosts easy throws. With a 16:4 run, the Berliners were able to break away for the first time (67:50).
And now the German champions had everything under control, continued to extend their lead and in the end won confidently.