2018-19Regular SeasonRound 6
November 07, 2018 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 TOFAS SPOR SALONU

ALBA survives OT, edges Tofas on the road

In an exciting game that saw two opposite halves before being decided in overtime, ALBA Berlin edged Tofas Bursa 101-106 on the road on Wednesday night. ALBA picked up its fourth straight win and remained the Group B group co-leader with a 6-1 record, while Tofas fell to 2-4. ALBA led by 20 points at halftime, but Tofas rallied in the third quarter and took the lead in the fourth. However, the visitors found a way to force overtime and then prevailed. Rokas Giedraitis led ALBA with 21 points and 9 rebounds, while for Tofas, Sammy Mejia led all scorers with 28 points and 6 assists and Diante Garrett had 22 points, 11 assists and 3 steals in the losing effort.

The game started with the teams playing up-tempo basketball and Tofas taking a 12-6 lead as Garrett hit a three and Kyle Weems scored consecutive baskets. But ALBA used its great ball movement on offense to make a charge and take control of the game. The visitors answered as Luke Sikma sparked a 0-6 run, before Niels Giffey and Franz Wagner each hit a triple in a 0-10 run to end the first quarter with ALBA up 17-24. ALBA continued its charge in the second quarter with a 0-11 run, as Giffey, Martin Hermannsson and Clint Chapman hit back-to-back-to-back threes and opened a 22-38 lead. A three-pointer from Giedraitis extended the margin to 20 points, and even though Mejia scored 5 points for Tofas, Kenneth Ogbie became the sixth different ALBA player to hit a triple in the first half, making it 32-52 at halftime. After the break, Tofas increased defensive intensity and started melting the lead. Three-pointers from Mejia and Weems during a 13-0 run cut the deficit to 47-54. The hosts held ALBA without a field goal for almost six minutes and used a pair of threes from each Garrett and Weems to get within 59-61. Hermannsson helped ALBA remain ahead 64-68 after 30 minutes, but Mejia nailed a pair of triples and a jumper to help Tofas rally all the way back and take a 78-76 lead with 6:19 to go. ALBA restored an 84-85 edge with a three-pointer from Giedraitis and after a corner three-pointer from Berkan Durmaz helped the hosts go up 90-86. Giedraitis hit back-to-back second-chance triples and tied the game at 92-92 with 21.7 seconds left. The game went into overtime where Tim Schneider his a triple and Stefano Peno scored twice inside to give the visitors the lead for good, 97-99. ALBA did not allow a single field goal for almost three minutes, a span during which a drive from Sikma made it 99-103 with 69 seconds to go and the visitors held on for their fourth straight victory.

Pivotal performer

Sammy Mejia and Diante Garrett shined for Tofas, but it was Rokas Giedraitis who was clutch for ALBA. He hit 3 triples in the final 2:23 of the regulation, including a second-chance triple with 21 seconds to go that tied the game at 92-92 and sent the game into an extra session. Giedraitis scored 21 points on 4-for-5 for two-point shooting and 4-for-6 three-point shooting plus 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

Movers and shakers

There were eight more double-digit scorers in the game. Clint Chapman had 15 for ALBA; Niels Giffey posted 14 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists; Johannes Thiemann also scored 14; Martin Hermannsson had 11 points and 8 assists before leaving the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter; and Stefan Peno had 10 points and 7 assists in the victory. For Tofas, Kyle Weems had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals; Kenny Kadji scored 13; and Berkan Durmaz added 10 points for the hosts.

Stellar stat

ALBA's 106 points was a club-record for points scored in a road game, surpassing a record it set in Round 2 game against Limoges. Before this season, ALBA never scored 100 points in a road game, but has done so twice this season. ALBA dished 29 assists, which is also a club record for a road game in the EuroCup. This is ALBA's 12th season in the competition.

Hidden stat

In the first half ALBA scored 21 field goals, with 18 of them being assisted. It shot 14 of 18 for two points and made 7 of 12 threes. It had nine different scorers and nine different players who dished at least 1 assist before halftime.

Did you notice?

The were no offensive boards in first 14 minutes of the game. The first offensive rebound was by Diante Garrett with six minutes remaining in the second quarter. ALBA pulled down its first offensive rebound with 1:25 to go in the first half, a put-back basket by Clint Chapman.

Next game

Next week in Round 7, Tofas goes on the road to play last-placed Arka Gdyina on Tuesday, and a day later ALBA welcomes third-placed Cedevita Zagreb.

Johannes Thiemann - ALBA Berlin (photo Ozan Demir - Tofas) - EC18
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: PEREZ, EMILIO; JURAS, MARKO; OVINOV, SEMEN
Attendance: 2435
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Tofas Bursa171532289
ALBA Berlin2428162414
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Tofas Bursa17326492101
ALBA Berlin24526892106
Tofas Bursa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 GARRETT, DIANTE 40:30 22 3/7 4/6 4/5 2 4 6 11 3 2   2 3 5 33
3 DURMAZ, BERKAN 23:29 10 2/4 1/1 3/4 1 4 5 1 1       5 3 12
5 TANISAN, EMRE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 ARSLAN, YIGIT 15:06     0/2     2 2 1   2         -1
9 MEJIA, SAMMY 37:25 28 6/11 4/9 4/4 1 3 4 6     1   2 3 30
21 KONUK, MERT DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 HARPER, DEMONTE 18:46 4 2/4 0/1     1 1 1   1     2    
23 MUSTAFA, MUHAYMIN 0:20                              
24 WITHEY, JEFF 14:43 5 0/1   5/6 1 1 2 1   2 1   1 3 7
34 WEEMS, KYLE 38:10 17 3/5 3/7 2/3 1 6 7 1 4 1   1 2 1 19
35 KADJI, KENNY 30:31 13 2/5 1/4 6/8 3 1 4 1   2 1   5 4 8
77 YASAR, MUHSIN 6:00 2 1/1       2 2     1     5   -2
Team                     1         -1
Totals 225:00 101 19/38 13/30 24/30 9 24 33 23 8 12 3 3 25 19 105
        50% 43.3% 80%
Head coach: ENE, ORHUN
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 24:07 14 4/6 2/6 0/2 4 3 7 5 1 1     2 1 17
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 6:36                   2     1 2 -1
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 16:37 3   1/2   1 2 3 1     1   1 1 7
13 CHAPMAN, CLINTON DANIEL 20:18 15 5/8 1/2 2/2 1 5 6 1   1 1   2 3 19
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 23:06 11 1/6 2/6 3/3 2 1 3 8   3   2 1 3 10
22 WAGNER, FRANZ 10:17 5 1/1 1/1   1   1 1         1   6
25 OGBE, KENNETH 14:46 5 1/1 1/4   1 1 2     1     3 1 1
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 31:26 21 4/5 4/6 1/2 3 6 9 2 1 1       1 29
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 22:03 14 4/5   6/8 1 6 7 2 2     1 3 5 23
33 CLIFFORD, DENNIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
43 SIKMA, LUKE 26:01 8 4/8 0/3   4 2 6 2   1 1   4 3 8
44 PENO, STEFAN 29:43 10 2/6 0/3 6/8   1 1 7 1 3     2 5 10
Team             2 2               2
Totals 225:00 106 26/46 12/33 18/25 18 29 47 29 5 13 3 3 20 25 131
        56.5% 36.4% 72%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

ENE, ORHUN
Tofas Bursa
"ALBA is a very good team, they did not give up. If we could take one more defensive rebound in the last two minutes of the regulation, the game would end with our win. But unfortunately, we got tired, and we spent too much effort. That caused us to shoot low percentages late in the game, and we lost our energy. We missed a couple free throws and could not get in position to get defensive rebounds. In the first half, we have to think about our focus, and how to start the game better. But I cannot say much to my players, they gave a great effort."
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"In the first half we had a very good percentage of three-points shots, and we held an advantage of 20 points. That seems a lot, but it is not too much when you play against a team like Tofas. When they score three-pointers five, six, seven times. That's when we started having problems. We relaxed a little and they took advantage to score."

Players

MEJIA, SAMMY
Tofas Bursa
"I think this game was a story of two different halves. The first half we were not ready to play. We were not focused, they played with more speed, more tempo, more aggressiveness that we did in the first half. We came out in the third quarter down 20 points, and against a team like ALBA it is hard to come back. Fortunately, we were able to do it, and we found some energy, but we couldn't be smart at the end to capitalize and get a win. It was a great effort, but we have to learn from this and be better in the beginning to not make it so difficult for us to have a chance to win."
GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS
ALBA Berlin
"The game was tough, really tough. The first half was good because they were missing three-point shots. But in the second half, we lost the third quarter by I don't know how much. We played bad. But after that, we improved, stayed as a team, and got this win."