Cedevita holds off ALBA for premier win

Cedevita Zagreb registered its first win of the 7DAYS EuroCup season, holding off visiting ALBA Berlin 75-73 on Wednesday night in the Croatian capital. Both teams now hold 1-1 records in Group B. Vitor Benite was Cedevita’s leading scorer with 17 points, while Justin Cobbs shined with 15 points and 10 assists and Augusto Lima and Filip Kruslin netted 11 points apiece. Rokas Giedraitis led ALBA with 14 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals and Peyton Siva and Martin Hermannsson scored 11 each.

Each team hit 4 three-pointers in the first quarter, including a pair from Benite as the hosts kept a slim lead. Benite's transition three helped Cedevita open a 33-25 lead in the second stanza, but Hermannsson had a three-point play that helped melt the deficit. The hosts led 38-36 at halftime, before Kruslin scored 5 quick points at the start of the third to make it 45-36. After Luke Sikma sparked ALBA’s 0-8 run, Cedevita edged away once again through Benite and Lima for a 56-47 advantage. Niels Giffey and Siva on one side, and Benite and Cobbs on the other, traded triples before Giedraitis capped another ALBA run that cut the deficit to 64-63. Cook and Lima gave Cedevita more breathing room, but only briefly. Another three from Siva cut to 72-71 with 1:43 left. In the final minute Cook came up with an important offensive rebound, and Cobbs had a steal to keep Cedevita in front. ALBA had the final possession, but Giffey missed a potential game-tying last-second jumper.

ALBA ran out of comebacks

ALBA had deficits of 33-25 in the second, 45-36 and 56-47 in the third quarter, but each time came back to within a single point or to tie the game. However, despite staying within range the entire time, the visitors never managed to get over the mental barrier of taking the lead in the second half. In the final 55 seconds, ALBA allowed Elgin Cook to grab an offensive rebound after Lima’s missed free throw, then Siva threw a pass that Cobbs stole in Cedevita’s paint, before Giffey missed a mid-range jumper to send the game into overtime.

Movers and shakers

Vitor Benite was Cedevita’s leading scorer with 17 points, connecting on 4 of 12 three-point attempts. But it was Justin Cobbs and Augusto Lima who also had great impact. Cobbs had 15 points and 10 assists, while Lima collected 11 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Filip Kruslin added 11 points in victory.

Hidden stat

ALBA had 11 players available for this game in Zagreb. All of them played at least three minutes already in the first half, and each one of those players scored at least 2 points before halftime.

Next game

In Round 3 both teams go on the road. Cedevita (1-1) travels to play last-place Arka Gdynia (0-2), while ALBA (1-1) will visit Limoges CSP (1-1).