Sikma leads ALBA to big road win

ALBA Berlin improved to 2-1 and registered its first road in in the 2017-18 7DAYS EuroCup by edging Limoges CSP 65-73 in Group C in France on Tuesday. ALBA improved to 2-1 while Limoges dropped to 1-2. Luke Sikma led the winners with 14 points on 7-of-8 two-point shooting and 8 rebounds. Dennis Clifford added 12 points and 9 rebounds while Spencer Butterfield had 10 points for ALBA, which pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and collected 9 steals. Mam Jaiteh led Limoges with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Kenny Hayes added 13 points while Josh Carter and William Howard each had 10 for the hosts, who hit just 15-of-35 two-point shots (42.9%) and 5-of-24 (20.8%) from beyond the arc.

It took Neils Giffey just 6 seconds to get ALBA going with a three-pointer, but Danny Gibson and Howard soon put Limoges in charge, 7-5. Clifford stepped up with a dunk, getting help from Sikma and Bogdan Radosavljevic to give the guests a 13-14 edge. A big slam by Axel Bouteille and a three-pointer by A.J. English helped Limoges get a 20-15 lead after 10 minutes. Bouteille kept pacing the hosts early in the second quarter and Carter followed a triple with a jumper to boost Limoges's margin to 28-22. Clifford rescued ALBA with a layup-plus-foul, Joshiko Saibou followed a three-pointer off the glass with a layup and a close basket by Sikma completed his team's comeback, 30-32. Butterfield hit a corner triple and added free throws to keep ALBA ahead, 34-38, at halftime. Sikma scored down low after the break and Peyton Siva downed a triple in transition but Howard followed a bomb from downtown with a fastbreak slam to tie it at 43-43. Peno sank a big triple, Giffey added a jump hook and Sikma took over with consecutive layups that gave ALBA plenty of fresh air, 47-54, after 30 minutes. A three-pointer by Butterfield made it a double-digit game, 47-57, right after that. Carter tried to change things with a layup, Jaiteh dunked and a layup by Hayes brought Limoges as close as 55-59. Sikma kept pacing ALBA with an alley-oop slam and three-pointers by Siva and Marius Grigonis broke the game open, 58-67. Jaiteh kept trying but he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, a driving layup by Grigonis sealed the outcome, 62-71, already in the final minutes.