Alba Berlin has fought its way to the German basketball champions again in the hall and in front of the fans of long-term rivals FC Bayern. The capital city wrestled the favorites from Munich in a final of the exhausted with 3-1 wins.
With a dramatic 86:79 (38:30), the team of coach Aito Garcia Reneses made the tenth championship title in the club’s history perfect.
While Alba rose to the sole number two in the eternal German championship ranking, the Munich team missed the happy ending in the championship after their famous season in the Euroleague and the cup victory. “Crazy. Winning this series is an incredible achievement on our part,” said Berlin-based Maodo Lo on “MagentaTV”. “We’re flying back to Berlin and celebrating.”
Final MVP Granger with a strong 29 points
Bayern, clearly weakened by injuries, were not enough for Wade Baldwin’s 18 points for the necessary home win, which would have forced a decisive fifth duel in Berlin on Tuesday. Thanks to their slightly better physique and led by top scorer Jayson Granger (29 points), the Berlin team made the coup perfect, which was also voted final MVP. “Today was my day but everyone did a great job,” said Granger.
As expected, there wasn’t much to be seen in the finals of the class and quality that both teams actually have – the extreme playfulness in this XXL season cost too much energy for that. “We had a few internal problems, Paul Zisper was out at the last moment, almost half the team is injured. We gave everything, but it wasn’t enough and we can be proud of ourselves. Congratulations, Alba was better in this series.” said Munich’s Nihad Djedovic.
FC Bayern initially without strength and ideas
In their 90th game, Bayern in particular saw the increasingly dramatic dwindling forces, like the day before at 69:81. In front of 1300 spectators in the Audi Dome, including the club bosses around President Herbert Hainer and Patron Uli Hoeneß, the hosts remained without points in the first almost five minutes. In the attack, there was a lack of ideas and the strength to find the gap against the defensive of the slightly better staffed Berliners. The fact that center Leon Radosevic scored the first Bayern points with a three was telling. Only six more followed in the first quarter.
During the first break, at the request of the hall spokesman, the supporters sent encouraging applause towards Paul Zipser. On Sunday it became known that the national player had to undergo emergency surgery four days earlier because of a brain hemorrhage. According to information from the German Press Agency, the intervention by a specialist was successful. “Paul is doing well under the circumstances, we don’t want to say anything more about this,” said the Munich media director Andreas Burkert on request and asked on behalf of the family to respect privacy in the near future.
The former NBA professional was one of the guarantors of success at Bayern this season. At this point in time, it is still completely unclear when the 27-year-old will be able to return to training. The crew was reportedly informed of Zipser’s condition.
Without the winger, Bayern had a very difficult time against the aggressive defense of Berlin throughout the final series, even in the fourth game. And if a free throw did happen, it often did not go into the basket. Alba slowly moved away, up to 16 points in the second quarter. A few ball losses prevented coach Aito’s team from gaining an even greater lead.
Dramatic final phase in Alba’s favor
Munich did not give up and resisted the preliminary decision. Andrea Trinchieri’s team had already made many comebacks during the season. This time it didn’t work out in a dramatic final phase, when the Munich Vladimir Lucic was disqualified for a foul seconds before the end.
Bayern Managing Director Marko Pesic congratulated Berlin on the well-deserved championship and great season. “If we had somehow managed to get this title, it would have been almost a perfect season, so it’s a great season,” said the former professional. When he was asked what Bayern was missing for the title, he was a little angry: “Should I really tell you what we’ve been through here for the last seven days or what. Are you serious? I beg you.”
Bayern Munich – Alba Berlin 79:86 (30:38)
Best Throwers: Baldwin (18), Radosevic (16), Johnson (15), Seeley (10) for Munich – Granger (29), Eriksson (15), Fontecchio (11) for Berlin
Spectator: 1300
Playoff-Stand: 1:3
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