Having started the season as the defending champion and second in the main round, Alba Berlin’s playoff journey came to an early end. Against outsider Ulm it’s already over in the fourth quarter-final game.
Alba Berlin was surprisingly eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals of the basketball Bundesliga. On Wednesday evening, the Berliners lost their fourth game at ratiopharm Ulm 81:83 (51:50). The best-of-five series went to Ulm 3-1. The outsider now meets FC Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, for Alba the season is over.
The best Berlin throwers were Jaleen Smith with 16 and Malte Delow with 15 points. At Ulm, Yago dos Santos was the most successful with 16 points. “We had physical problems,” complained Alba’s coach Israel Gonzalez after leaving Magenta Sport. The wear and tear after 74 competitive games this season was too great. “Of course we’re extremely happy today,” said Ulm’s coach Anton Gavel instead. “We still have a few games ahead of us.”
Gonzalez was able to fall back on defensive specialist Yovel Zoosman for the first time in the playoffs, but the sick Gabriele Procida, who had played so well in the last game in Ulm, was missing.
Alba went straight to the point from the start and quickly took a 12:6 lead. At the end of the first quarter, however, Ulm presented the guests with more and more problems due to a very variable defense. The defending champion allowed himself to lose a few balls, which the hosts then immediately punished.
In the middle of the second period, Ulm was 38:31 ahead. But the capitals didn’t fall apart this time and regained a narrow lead at the break. Even after the change of sides, it remained a tight game. The lead changed back and forth. Alba was better defensively, but Ulm also hardly allowed the guests space for free throws. Every attack was now hotly contested.
The final phase became a thrill. 14.4 seconds Smith sunk two free throws to 81:82. But Ulm hit a free throw through dos Santos in return. Maodo Lo finally missed Berlin’s last chance to win with the last throw.