In the last catch-up game of the main round of the basketball Bundesliga, Alba Berlin set another exclamation point. Israel Gonzalez’s team won the top game at FC Bayern Munich 83:78 (41:34). The top scorer in Berlin was Jaleen Smith with 24 points. With the success in Munich, the defending champion ends the regular season with a series of eleven games won.
FC Bayern had to complete the match without coach Andrea Trinchieri. The coach is said to have left the hall immediately before the start of the game for health reasons.
The Berliners started the game with a 7-0 run, while the home side consistently missed their shots. After Jaleen Smith had sunk his three-point attempt to make it 10-0, FCB took their first time-out.
Led by Nihad Djedovic, the Munich team got into the game better and with an 8-0 run they came close to the Albatrosses, who in turn often missed their long-range shots. From the end of the first quarter, an exciting top game developed.
In the second quarter, the guests from Berlin initially had little success. But after Bayern took the lead for a short time, the Berliners got more access to the game. Apart from Maodo Lo, who couldn’t find his throwing rhythm from distance in the first half, the guests impressed with an effective shooting rate both under the basket and from beyond the three-point line. Smith did not miss three three-point attempts from a distance in the first round.
Led by Andreas Obst’s powerful throwing hand, the home side picked up again after the break. In the middle of the third quarter, the Berliners missed ten times in a row – including four free-throw attempts. The guests were lucky that Bayern were only five points ahead of them at this stage of the game. At the end of the third period, a successful long-range shot by Smith and a dunking by Oscar da Silva put the Berlin team back in the lead (58:56).
The fourth quarter developed into a furious top game in which both teams went on the offensive. With the score at 79:78, a ball loss by Nick Weiler-Babb from Munich ten seconds before the end decided the game – which ultimately ended with a 83:78 for the guests.
Alba Berlin will start the playoffs next Friday (7 p.m.) and meet Brose Bamberg in the quarter-finals.
Broadcast: rbb24, May 10, 2022, 10:00 p.m
