While Bayern, who lost this time, have already qualified for the play-offs in the Euroleague, Alba Berlin’s hopes have been dashed despite defeating Panathinaikos Athens.
Bayern München will enter the play-offs as eighth in the table and will meet title favourites FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals. The 76-81 (39-44) defeat at Anadolu Efes Istanbul of Turkey on Wednesday means the Bundesliga side cannot improve on their 13-14 win record with one matchday to go in the main round. Coach Andrea Trinchieri’s side will conclude their campaign with a visit to Real Madrid on Friday.
In their second Euroleague game in 48 hours, Munich were trailing. At times, the hosts led by twelve points (23:35/24th minute) because Anadolu professional Shane Larkin was hardly to be stopped. By the break, the Bavarians had come within five points.
In the third quarter, the guests kept the game open for a long time. However, the Trinchieri team did not manage to turn the game around. Again and again, Larkin or the Frenchman Adrien Moerman scored easy points. In the end, the Euroleague champions managed to hold on to their narrow lead. Augustine Rubit was the best scorer for the Munich team with 15 points. National team centre Tibor Pleiss scored nine points for the Turkish team.
Alba Berlin wins last home game against Panathinaikos
Alba Berlin won its last home game in this Euroleague season. On Wednesday night, the German champions won against the Greek champions Panathinaikos Athens with 87:78 (42:40) in front of 4355 spectators. However, the play-offs were already out of reach for the Berliners. It was Alba’s twelfth win in 27 games. Best Berlin scorers were Oscar da Silva with 16 and Christ Koumadje with twelve points.
Coach Israel Gonzalez only had to do without the long-term injured Marcus Eriksson and Ben Lammers. Both teams made a lot of speed at the beginning. However, the Berliners were more accurate and more committed defensively. So they were able to pull away to a 28:13 lead in the first quarter.
Panathinaikos then woke up and started to fight back more, especially physically. In addition, there were questionable referee decisions against the Berliners. Alba was impressed by this. Until shortly before half-time, the lead melted down to two points.
After the change of ends, Alba acted more concentrated again and extended the lead to 69:55 by the end of the third quarter. The Greeks did not give up and stayed in it. But the Berliners managed to hold on to their lead.
Frankfurt plummet towards 2nd league
For the Fraport Skyliners, relegation from the BBL is drawing ever closer. The Frankfurt side lost 72-76 (29-42) at BG Göttingen on Wednesday, conceding their fourth defeat in a row. With 12:44 points, the team at the bottom of the table is still well behind the 16th place. The 2004 German champions were behind from the sixth minute onwards and only managed to get within two points in the third quarter.
Euroleague
Anadolu Efes Istanbul – Bayern Munich 81:76 (44:39)
Best scorers: Larkin (20), Moerman (17), Simon (13), Dunston (10) for Istanbul – Rubit (15), Sisko (11) for München.
EuroCup
Türk Telekom Ankara – Hamburg Towers 95:70 (49:42)
Best scorers: Perez (17), Dawkins (17), Ogut (14), Johnson (12), Clemmons (11) for Ankara – Brown (21), Bluiett (18), Kotar (12) for Hamburg.
BBL, Matchday 17
BG Göttingen – Fraport Frankfurt 76:72 (19:15,23:14,12:19,22:24)
Points BG Göttingen: Martin 24, Grimes 11, Roberson 11, Frey 9, Brown 6, Kamp 6, Vargas 6, Hujic 3; Fraport Frankfurt: Moore 15, Robertson 15, Cherry 9, Haarms 8, Ponitka 7, McLean 6, Schoormann 5, Wank 5, Brenneke 2; Spectators: 1721
Hakro Merlins Crailsheim – Syntainics MBC Weißenfels 90:93 (39:41)
Best scorers: Harris (24), Lewis (16), Aririguzoh (14), Stuckey (14) for Crailsheim – Morris (19), Upshaw (17), Huskic (14), Mushidi (13), English (12), Bryant (10) for Weißenfels. – Spectators: 147
