Alba Berlin has clinched its 19th win of the season on matchday 30 of the BBL. The capital city team defeated EWE Baskets Oldenburg 92:86 (51:48) in an intense game in their own hall on Tuesday.
Alba thus remain the team with the fewest defeats in the BBL, but still have a number of catch-up games to play. The best scorers for the Berliners in front of 4863 spectators in the Mercedes-Benz Arena were Jaleen Smith with 19 and Oscar da Silva with 14 points. Max Heidegger was Oldenburg’s top scorer with 24 points.
Alba coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without Marcus Eriksson, Ben Lammers and Johannes Thiemann (muscle haematoma in the calf). A lively game developed against the offensively strong guests. Alba dominated the rebounding, but allowed themselves too many ball losses. Thus, the Berliners were trailing 24:26 after the first period. In the second quarter, Alba minimised their mistakes and forced Oldenburg to lose the ball. At the break, the Berliners were now just ahead with 51:48.
Gonzalez continued to do without national player Maodo Lo in view of the tight game schedule. The game became more physical and remained close. With a 70:68 lead for Berlin, it went into the last quarter. Alba now controlled Oldenburg’s top scorer Heidegger better and was able to slowly pull away thanks to better scoring rates. In the middle of the final quarter, the lead was in double figures for the first time. Oldenburg held on, but the Berliners kept their nerve in a basketball game that was contested for a long time and carried the lead over the time.
Alba Berlin – EWE Baskets Oldenburg 92:86 (51:48)
Best scorers for Berlin: Smith (19), da Silva (14), Zoosman (13), Delow (12), Soumadje (10)
Best scorers for Oldenburg: Heidegger (24), Pressey (13), Paulding (11), Holyfield (10), Odiase (10)
Spectators: 4863
ratiopharm Ulm – MLP Academics Heidelberg 90:74 (41:40)
Best scorers for Ulm: Blossomgame (24), Klepeisz (11), Herkenhoff (10)
Best scorers for Heidelberg: Chapman (24), Anderson (10), Ugra (10)
Spectators: 4438
Löwen Braunschweig – Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 84:87 (44:48)
Best scorers for Braunschweig: Krämer (21), Tischler (10), Zagars (10)
Best scorers for Crailsheim: Harris (18), Caffey (18), Lewis (15), Stuckey (13), Lasisi (12)
Spectators: 1548