In a duel: Kyle Hines from Olimpia Milano against Alba’s Johannes Thiemann. He was the best Berlin thrower with 22 points. Photo: picture alliance / photo booth
By Nicolas Sowa
The basketball players from Alba Berlin won their first victory in the Euroleague. On Thursday evening, the Berliners won at home against the Italian champions Armani Milan thanks to a brilliant final spurt with 85:82 (35:37).
For coach Israel Gonzalez’s team it was the first win in the fifth game. The best Berlin throwers in front of 9,113 spectators were Johannes Thiemann with 22 and Sterling Brown with 18 points.
For the hosts, center Khalifa Koumadje returned after an injury break. Milan came to the capital with two world champions. Center Johannes Voigtmann and the ex-Berlin Maodo Lo – who was greeted with warm applause – initially just sat on the bench. Alba got off to a better start and took a 10-3 lead.
Milan’s Kevin Pangos tries to stop Alba’s Matt Thomas from throwing Photo: picture alliance / photo booth
Lo and Voigtmann came on in the middle of the first quarter and livened up the guests’ game. Now Alba was running a narrow gap. Overall, both sides missed a lot of shots, so there were only a few points to be seen in the first half.
After the break, the guests pulled away to twelve points (52:40). But the Berliners showed morale and fought their way back in the final phase. With 24 seconds left, Brown gave Alba the lead again 84:82. And the hosts didn’t let that be taken away from them.