National player Maodo Lo set his new Bundesliga record with 27 points against Bayreuth Photo: picture alliance / Eibner press photo
From BZ/dpa
Alba Berlin easily won its last league game this season in the Bundesliga. On Thursday, the Berliners won 83:72 (47:34) against the team from Bayreuth, who had already been relegated.
In terms of sport, however, the game was meaningless, since Alba will probably start the playoffs as second in the table. The best Berlin throwers were the strong Maodo Lo with 27 points and Jaleen Smith and Yanni Wetzell with 14 points each.
The guests from the capital started the game well and quickly took a 10:4 lead. Coach Israel Gonzalez, who had to do without the Israeli duo Tamir Blatt and Yovel Zoosman, made a lot of substitutions and gave youngsters like Rikus Schulte and Elias Rapique a lot of playing time.
Alba giant Christ Koumadje climbs up to defend against Bayreuth’s Nat Diallo Photo: picture alliance / Eibner press photo
You could tell from the guests that nothing was at stake. There were a lot of inaccuracies and inaccuracies. But even at Bayreuth, the error rate was high. The Franconians took the lead again at the end of the first quarter (15:14), but Alba remained unimpressed and hit back. At the beginning of the second period, their lead was in double digits for the first time (30:20).
And after the change of sides, the guests went a step further. After around 24 minutes, the lead was even 20 points (56:36). But in the last quarter, the Berliners let things slide badly and Bayreuth came back to five tamers (69:64). But Alba responded with a 9-0 run and made things clear again.