Alba Berlin has celebrated a surprising home victory in the Euroleague. On Thursday evening, the Berliners won against the Russian top club Zenit St. Petersburg with 76:67 (34:34).
Alba, however, remains in the lower third of the table in 15th place. Best Berlin scorers were Maodo Lo with 15 and Christ Koumadje, Yovel Zoosman and Ben Lammers with nine points each.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without Louis Olinde, who is out for several weeks due to a severe capsule injury in his left thumb, and Marcus Eriksson (foot injury). Both teams pressed the tempo from the start. Alba came into the game more rested than usual after three days without a game and acknowledged this extra energy with a corresponding performance.
The Berliners started with a lot of pressure and secured several rebounds in the beginning. By the end of the first quarter, they were ahead 23:12. But the comfortable lead diminished more and more in the course of the second quarter, St. Petersburg found their way into the game better, so that it went into the half-time break with a draw.
After the change of ends, a completely open game developed in which the lead changed. It was only in the final phase that Alba managed to pull away and took an eight-point lead. They did not let this lead slip away again until the end.
