Reggio Emilia wins drama against ALBA

In a Group B thriller, Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia edged the visiting ALBA Berlin 74-71 on Wednesday night, improving its record to 4-3 and greatly improving its Last 32 chances. ALBA also holds 4-3 record in a share of the third place. ALBA spent most of the night with the lead, but Reggio Emelia led by Pietro Aradori kept coming back. The visitors had a 4-point margin late in the fourth quarter, but a late 7-0 run capped by a clutch triple from Amadeo Della Valle gave the hosts lead for good as they held on to victory. Aradori paced the hosts with 22 points, and Andrea De Nicolao added 12 in victory. Della Valle and Vladimir Veremeenko each scored 9, while Achille Polonara pulled down 15 rebounds for Reggio Emilia. Elmedin Kikanovic collected 17 points plus 7 rebounds for ALBA, and Jordan Taylor netted 16. Will Cherry scored 11 and Kresimir Loncar 10 points in a losing effort.

Aradori scored 8 points in the first 5 minutes, including a triple that gave the hosts 12-3. Cherry and Kikanovic combined to score 10 points for ALBA, tying the game at 13-13, but Di Nicolao and Ojars Silins made sure the hosts held 20-13 after the opening possession of the second quarter. But a triple from Taylor got ALBA going again, before Taylor fueled a 0-9 run together with Dragan Milosavljevic, giving the visitors 22-25. Veremeenko snapped the run, and Darjus Lavrinovic kept the hosts within 29-30, but in the final minute of the second quarter, Kikanovic had a three-point play, Cherry scored a fastbreak layup, then beat the buzzer with a halfcourt shot to give ALBA 29-38 halftime lead.

Loncar and Alex King gave ALBA 31-42 at the start of the third quarter, but Aradori and a triple from Veremeenko halved the gap, before Polonara and again Aradori got the hosts within 41-42. But Taylor snapped a 10-0 run with free throws and a triple, and 3 of 4 from the foul line from Loncar made it 42-50. Aradori, and Della Valle’s 3-for-4 free throws, cut the deficit to 49-52 after 30 minutes. Mitchell Watt scored on consecutive possession early in the fourth, including a triple that kept ALBA in front, but a triple from De Nicolao and free throws from Rimantas Kaukenas put Reggio Emilia up 58-57. Milosavljevic answered with a three-pointer, then had a steal that helped give ALBA a 4-point lead. De Nicolao and Taylor traded hits from long range, and despite baskets from Aradori and Veremeenko, free throws from Milosavljevic and Kikanovic helped ALBA stay in front 65-69. However, De Nicolao scored more for the hosts, Polonara tied it with free throws 2 minutes to go, and Della Valle knocked down a three-pointer to put Reggio Emilia in front 72-69 with 80 seconds left. After Kikanovic and Aradori each made a pair of free throws, ALBA had two chances to tie, and two more offensive rebounds to cut the deficit, but the hosts prevailed.