2008-09Top 16Round 6
March 12, 2009 CET: 20:15
Local time: 20:15 PALACIO VISTALEGRE

Real Madrid edged Alba Berlin 83-82

Real Madrid rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final 2 minutes to edge Alba Berlin 83-82 in the Spanish capital in Group F on Thursday night. Real Madrid finished second in Group F with a 5-1 record due to its tie-break disadvantage with archrivals Regal FC Barcelona and will face Group E winners Olympiacos in the best-of-five Quarterfinal Playoffs. Meanwhile, Alba finished the Top 16 fourth in Group F with a 0-6 record. Raul Lopez became the game hero by hitting an unbelievable game-winning jumper with 0.1 remaining. Axel Hervelle paced the winners with 18 points. Jeremiah Massey added 14 while Lopez and Alex Mumbru each had 12 for Madrid. Blagota Sekulic led Alba with 21 points and 8 rebounds against his former team. Julius Jenkins added 17 for Alba. Dragan Dojcin and Jenkins combined for all points in a 0-10 run that gave Alba a 73-80 edge. Three-pointers by Lopez and Louis Bullock brought Madrid back to life, 81-82. Casey Jacobsen missed a shot while Lopez stepped up with a wild turnaround jumper to win the game at the buzzer.

Adam Chubb got Alba going with a layup, as Madrid tried to feed its big men in the opening minutes. Felipe Reyes scored in the paint while Hervelle followed a layup with a wild alleyoop dunk for a 6-2 Madrid run. Alba did not panic, however, as Chubb scored in the low post while a put-back basket by Ansu Sesay tied it at 6-6. Madrid kept missing open shots while Sesay took over with a layup-plus-foul. Free throws by Chubb capped a 0-9 Alba run, as Reyes brought Madrid within 8-11. Alba kept following its game plan, with a patient offense and aggressive man-to-man defense. Both teams went scoreless for more than 2 minutes until Hervelle sank a turnaround jumper. He soon added a bomb from downtown that Marko Tomas followed with a fast break layup for a 15-11 Madrid edge. Jenkins nailed a three-pointer but Kennedy Winston stepped up with a power layup for a 17-14 Madrid edge at the end of the first quarter.

Jacobsen took over with a driving layup - and the free throw that came with it - early in the second period while Sekulic scored down low for a 17-19 Alba edge. Sekulic kept pacing Alba with another three-point play and then matched Tomas Van den Spiegel's dunk with an easy layup, good for a 19-24 edge. Mumbru fired in one from downtown while a foul shot by Van den Spiegel got Madrid within 23-24. Massey downed a three-pointer and provided a highlight with an alleyoop dunk to cap a 9-0 Madrid run. Jenkins buried a corner triple but Tomas got the crowd involved with an outstanding block. Sekulic hit a put-back layup off an Alba timeout and soon added a tip-in to put Alba back ahead, 29-31. Mumbru made free throws that McElroy matched with a six-meter jumper. Sekulic shined with another put-back layup. Massey sank a jumper off a Madrid timeout while Reyes scored in transition for a 35-35 tie. McElroy and Mumbru traded layups while Jenkins and Massey exchanged three-pointers for a 40-40 tie at halftime.

Sekulic hit a close jumper immediately after the break that Bullock matched it with a long two-pointer. Sesay buried a five-meter shot but Hervelle banked it a fallaway jumper for a 44-44 tie. Rashad Wright nailed a step-back triple but Lopez scored in a quick transition. Sekulic stayed unstoppable with foul shots while another three-pointer by Wright boosted the guests' margin to 46-52. Hervelle rescued Madrid with a layup-plus-foul, as Madrid improved its defense with Van den Spiegel on court. He fed Hervelle for an easy dunk but a driving layup by Jacobsen gave Alba a 51-54 edge. Aleksandar Nadjfeji stepped up with a layup that Lopez bettered with free throws. Jenkins and Mumbru traded triples, as Madrid tried to get Bullock involved without much success. Mumbru beat the shot clock with an easy basket that Dojcin erased in the other end. Bullock made free throws to tie the game again, 61-61, after 30 minutes.

Massey hit a five-meter jumper early in the fourth quarter but Nadjfeji quickly answered with a driving basket. Sergio Llull took over with a three-pointer while free throws by Massey restored a 68-63 Madrid edge. The hosts had improved their defense but Wright found space for an open three-pointer. Llull dunked it off a steal to give Madrid a 71-66 edge with under 7 minutes remaining. Jacobsen hit foul shots while Sekulic scored again to keep Alba within 71-70. Hervelle made free throws but Dojcin answered from downtown and added free throws for a 73-75 Alba edge. Jenkins nailed an off-balance three-pointer and followed it with a fast break layup to make Madrid call timeout, 73-80, after a 0-10 run. Lopez made foul shots but Sekulic banked in a jumper that seemed to seal the outcome, 75-82, with under 2 minutes to go. Lopez and Bullock struck from downtown, however, for a 81-82 Madrid deficit with 45 seconds remaining. Jacobsen missed a shot and it all came down to the final seconds, in which Lopez sank an unbelievable turnaround jumper to complete the guests' comeback, 83-82, almost at the buzzer.

Thursday, March 12, 2009
Euroleague.net
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Referees: BACHAR, SHMUEL; HERCEG, SINISA; ANASTOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS
Attendance: 5200
By Quarter1234
Real Madrid17232122
Alba Berlin14262121
End of Quarter1234
Real Madrid17406183
Alba Berlin14406182
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MIROTIC, NIKOLA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 SANCHEZ, PEPE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 WINSTON, KENNEDY 17:25 2 1/3 0/1 0/1 2 3 5 2     1 1   1 6
9 REYES, FELIPE 16:36 6 3/7       3 3 1 1   1 1 2 2 7
12 VAN DEN SPIEGEL, TOMAS 20:15 5 1/4   3/8 3 3 6 1       1 2 5 6
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 17:37 12 2/3 2/3 2/2   2 2 1         3 4 14
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 24:01 18 6/6 1/4 3/3   1 1 1 2 1     1 3 20
21 MASSEY, JEREMIAH 19:08 14 3/5 2/2 2/2 1 3 4 2           1 19
22 BULLOCK, LOUIS 27:38 7 1/4 1/4 2/2   1 1 3   2     3 4 4
23 LLULL, SERGIO 22:26 5 1/3 1/3         3 2 1     2   3
24 LOPEZ, RAUL 22:32 12 2/3 1/3 5/5   1 1 4   1     2 1 12
33 TOMAS, MARKO 12:22 2 1/2 0/1     2 2 1     1       4
Team             2 2   1           3
Totals 200:00 83 21/40 8/21 17/23 6 21 27 19 6 5 3 3 15 21 98
        52.5% 38.1% 73.9%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN
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
4 JACOBSEN, CASEY 29:11 7 2/2 0/3 3/3   3 3 2   1     2 3 9
5 HERBER, JOHANNES 4:06   0/2                     2   -4
6 HAMANN, STEFFEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 ZWIENER, PHILLIP DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 DOJCIN, DRAGAN 20:04 7 1/1 1/3 2/2   4 4 2 1 3     2 1 8
9 SESAY, ANSU 20:02 7 3/4 0/5 1/1 1 5 6 1   1 2   4 1 6
10 SEKULIC, BLAGOTA 23:48 21 9/14   3/3 6 2 8   1     1   3 27
11 JENKINS, JULIUS 30:15 17 1/3 5/5     1 1 2   1   1 2 4 18
12 WRIGHT, RASHAD 27:57 9 0/6 3/6 0/2   2 2 3   3   1 1 1 -1
14 CHUBB, ADAM 8:48 6 2/2   2/2   2 2     1 1   4 1 5
23 McELROY, IMMANUEL 28:31 4 2/3     1 2 3 3 2 1     2 1 9
32 NADJFEJI, ALEKSANDAR 7:18 4 2/4       2 2     1     2   1
Team           2 4 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 82 22/41 9/22 11/13 10 27 37 13 4 13 3 3 21 15 83
        53.7% 40.9% 84.6%
Head coach: PAVICEVIC, LUKA

Head Coaches

PLAZA, JOAN
Real Madrid
"We are very happy to finish the Top 16 with a 5-1 record. Few teams are able to finish second with a 5-1 record. It was not a beautiful game for the fans, but it was a very balanced one. I believe we reached such a difficult situation in the final minutes because we were not able to control the boards. I am happy with the steal-to-turnover ratio we had tonight. As for the quarterfinals matchups, I haven't seen Olympaicos much so I cannot give my opinion right now. We want to reach the series in good shape, which is why we will reduce the amount of work in practice. The most important thing is to steal a win in Athens, even though it is a difficult task. I am convinced that we can do it, I believe in my players and we can beat any opponent."
PAVICEVIC, LUKA
Alba Berlin
"It was a tough, very balanced game. We played really well for many minutes, but missed several shots that led to this loss. We should have won some more games before this game to have kept our chances alive to make it to the playoffs. We now hope to win the German League and return to the Euroleague next season under different circumstances. I consider that the team is not mature enough, because we cannot close difficult games, as happened to us against Madrid."

Players

BULLOCK, LOUIS
Real Madrid
"We have to steal at least one road win to win the series. That way, we have a lot of chances to win the series in Madrid. This team is able to beat anyone, anywhere. We wish we would have won in a different way, but Alba is a very proud team that came here to avoid a 0-6 record in the Top 16."
LOPEZ, RAUL
Real Madrid
"This team is able to beat any opponent, anytime. We are going to Athens convinced of our chances. The final play was designed for me or Louis Bullock. We both faced very good defense, so I was forced to take the final shot. I am very happy to have made that shot and won the game."
SEKULIC, BLAGOTA
Alba Berlin
"I played a good game, very tough. I am unhappy because Alba lost the game in the final second. I am very happy to get back to Palacio Vistalegre. The fan support before the game makes me very proud of what I experienced in this club. As for the Olympiacos-Madrid series, both teams are good and its final outcome is tough to predict. Both teams have 50% of chances to win the series."
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