2018-19Regular SeasonRound 2
October 10, 2018 CET: 19:30
Local time: 19:30 DOM SPORTOVA ZAGREB

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).

Justin Cobbs - Cedevita Zagreb (photo Cedevita) - EC18
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: MANTYLA, PETRI; KOWALSKI, MARCIN; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 2155
By Quarter1234
Cedevita Zagreb22161819
ALBA Berlin21151423
End of Quarter1234
Cedevita Zagreb22385675
ALBA Berlin21365073
Cedevita Zagreb
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COBBS, JUSTIN 26:34 15 3/7 2/3 3/4   1 1 10 2 4     1 5 22
2 KRUSLIN, FILIP 18:43 11 2/3 2/4 1/1 2   2 2 1 2     3 3 11
8 BENITE, VITOR 25:49 17 2/2 4/12 1/3   3 3 1 1 1     3 1 9
9 MAGETTE, JOSH 14:16   0/2 0/1     1 1 5 2 1     2 2 4
11 ZGANEC, KARLO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 STIPANOVIC, ANDRIJA 13:23 9 2/5   5/6 2 1 3   1       2 3 10
17 LIMA, AUGUSTO 26:05 11 5/7 0/1 1/5 4 5 9   1 4 3   4 5 14
23 COOK, ELGIN 21:37 7 3/6 0/2 1/2 3 2 5 1 1 2     2 2 6
27 RAMLJAK, IVAN 15:52 2 1/2 0/1   3 2 5   1   1   1   6
31 BELL, JAMES 18:54   0/1 0/3         1 1       5 1 -6
34 AGUILAR, PABLO 18:47 3 0/1 1/5     3 3 1 2       3 2 3
Team           1 7 8     2         6
Totals 200:00 75 18/36 9/32 12/21 15 25 40 21 13 16 4 0 26 24 85
        50% 28.1% 57.1%
Head coach: ALONSO, SITO
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
3 SIVA, PEYTON 25:42 11 1/2 3/6     4 4 6   6   1 5 3 8
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 22:24 8 1/5 1/1 3/5 3 2 5           1 2 8
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 17:54 9 2/3 1/1 2/2 1 2 3           4 1 8
13 CHAPMAN, CLINTON DANIEL 11:56 2     2/2 1 4 5 1   2     4 1 3
15 HERMANNSSON, MARTIN 28:02 11 2/3 1/3 4/5   1 1 4 1 2   1 3 5 12
16 NIKIC, KRESIMIR 3:04 2 0/1   2/2   1 1             1 3
22 WAGNER, FRANZ 11:58 4 1/2 0/1 2/2 2   2             1 5
25 OGBE, KENNETH 13:46 3 0/1 1/4         1 1     1 1 1  
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 26:14 14 4/6 1/7 3/3 2 6 8 2 5 2     1 3 21
43 SIKMA, LUKE 24:42 6 2/5 0/1 2/2 3 4 7 1 1 4   1 4 4 6
44 PENO, STEFAN 14:18 3 0/6   3/4 2 1 3 1   5     3 2 -6
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 73 13/34 8/24 23/27 14 27 41 16 8 21 0 4 26 24 70
        38.2% 33.3% 85.2%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

ALONSO, SITO
Cedevita Zagreb
"I am especially happy tonight. ALBA scored only 73 points tonight and that was not an easy achievement for our defense because they are a high-scoring team. We were not lucky in the last one and a half minutes, but in the end we had luck when they missed their last two shots. ALBA know how to play and, in my opinion, they are a very good team on offense and defense."
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"I want to congratulate to Cedevita. They played better than us and they played with good intensity, especially Lima, who played powerful. We improved our game in the second half. I am more unhappy with our rhythm of the game in the first half, then the mistakes we made at the end of the game with the possibility to win the game."

Players

STIPANOVIC, ANDRIJA
Cedevita Zagreb
"It is a very important win, especially after losing at Limoges. It was important to avoid dropping to 0-2. Today we showed we can play good defense, unlike in our previous game this season. our defensive effort was the key to our win. We did good scouting before the game, but we fought on defense for every ball. My expectations are to keep playing this type of defense and to keep getting better each game."
RAMLJAK, IVAN
Cedevita Zagreb
"We executed our game plan very well tonight. The game was tough. ALBA has a lot of players who are together for a long time and they have a good system. We missed the opportunity to decide the game earlier in the third quarter, but we managed to get it at the end."
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