Alba Berlin has continued its successful streak in the basketball Bundesliga.
On Wednesday evening, the Berliners won a catch-up game at the Merlins Crailsheim with 78:70 (42:42). With the sixth win in a row, Alba also took second place. The best Berlin throwers were Jaleen Smith, Christ Koumadje and Tamir Blatt with twelve points each.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without long-term absentees Marcus Eriksson and Ben Lammers as well as Tim Schneider due to a meniscus injury. In their ninth competitive game in April, Alba started very concentrated and quickly took a 17:11 lead.
But then the mistakes in the Berlin game began to pile up. A few simple layups were left behind and the weakened Crailsheimers repeatedly put the German champions’ defense under pressure with a lot of speed and commitment. The guests came back and equalized before the break.
And it remained tight even after the change of sides. Neither team was able to pull away by more than six points. In the last quarter, however, Alba was able to secure important rebounds and, up to three minutes before the end, extended the lead by two digits for the first time (76:65). The guests couldn’t take the lead anymore.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220420-99-982668/2 (dpa)
