Siva sends ALBA past ASVEL at the death

ALBA Berlin gained a stunning 76-75 home win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne thanks to a game-winning three-pointer from Peyton Siva with 2 seconds remaining. It was hard on the French side, which had led nearly the whole game as the outstanding Moustapha Fall dominated inside. ASVEL had a double-digit lead at the end of the third quarter, but the host refused to die and Siva’s three-pointer sealed the deal as ALBA went ahead for only the second time all night. Luke Sikma paced ALBA with 16 points, while Siva – playing his first game for a month – and Niels Giffey added 10 apiece. The unstoppable Fall had a career night with 25 points on 10-of-12 two-point shooting, along with 10 rebounds. Allerik Freeman scored 12 points as ASVEL drops to 1-6, while ALBA improves to 2-5.

Charles Kahudi opened the scoring for ASVEL with a mid-range strike and free throws, before Sikma got ALBA on the board after going 2:30 scoreless. Jayson Granger and Jonas Mattisseck struck from long-range for ALBA, but Freeman did likewise for the visitors and Fall dunked twice to keep ASVEL ahead. Kahudi and David Lighty scored under the basket to make it 10-15, but Maodo Lo’s three-pointer made it closer. Fall dunked again and Paul Lacombe added an alley-oop layup, but 5 points from Giffey kept ALBA close at 19-21 after ten minutes. Lo’s backdoor cut tied it up early in the second, but ASVEL pulled back in front through Amine Noua’s triple and Fall’s deft close-range finish. Marcus Eriksson’s deep three and Sikma’s score in penetration gave ALBA its first lead, 29-28, but that didn’t last long as Rihards Lomazs struck from deep and the dominant Fall added three more close-range finishes to make it 33-40. Johannes Thiemann and Freeman traded triples, making it 36-43 at half-time. ALBA started the second half with a 7-0 run, tying the game through Siva and Simone Fontecchio from close range, followed by Sikma from deep. Fall, inevitably, restored ASVEL’s lead from the line before adding two more dunks including a three-point play. Freeman’s three-pointer and Lighty’s inside strike made it 46-55, ASVEL’s largest lead so far. Ben Lammers ignited ALBA with a huge reverse alley-oop, but Noua and Lighty made it 50-60 after three quarters. Lomasz sent ASVEL further ahead from long-range, before Lammers and Thiemann pulled the deficit back to single digits. Antoine Diot struck from deep to keep ASVEL comfortable, and yet another dunk from Fall made it 60-68 with three minutes left. Fall then fed Diot to score with a backdoor cut, but ALBA kept fighting and came back to 68-71 with 80 seconds left and Siva drove through the defense to make it 70-71. A tough two-pointer with a foul from Freeman made it 70-74, but Giffey’s triple kept ALBA hoping. Diot split his free throws and it was 73-75 with 6.8 seconds remaining. Siva coolly struck a dagger from a deep, giving ASVEL 2.4 seconds to get back in front, but Guerschon Yabusele missed on the final buzzer and ALBA had the win.

Fall unrewarded for stunning show

Defeat was particularly tough on Moustapha Fall, who made 10-of-12 field goals in a total of 25 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished 4 assists and made 1 steal for a PIR of 42 – the highest recorded by any player so far this season.

ALBA steals the win

ALBA led for just 23 seconds all night: for 21 seconds at 29-28 midway through the second quarter, and then for the last 2 seconds of the game. ASVEL was ahead by 12 points, 51-63, inside the final quarter, and by 8 points, 62-70, inside the final three minutes.

Siva strikes…in the end

Peyton Siva was playing his first game for more than a month after testing positive for Covid-19 after ALBA’s only previous win, at CSKA Moscow in Round 4. He missed 5 straight three-point attempts in this game before sinking his only threeball of the night to win the game.

Close contest in shooting stats

There was virtually nothing between the teams in shooting percentages. ALBA made 17-of-33 two-pointers (51.5%) compared to ASVEL’s 19-of-37 (51.4%) and both teams shot 8-of-24 from beyond the arc. But ALBA made more free throws, 18-of-20 against 13-of-16.

Next round

ALBA stays at home to welcome Zenit St Petersburg on Friday, while ASVEL will not be back in action until next week with a home game against Barcelona on Friday 27 November.