Ludwigsburg wins big over ALBA

MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg made a memorable return to Eurocup, downing fellow German side ALBA Berlin 79-60 on Wednesday. The all-German showdown of Group B also marked Ludwigsburg’s return to the competition after 8 years. The hosts took control with an 8-0 run in the second quarter, helping it build 36-24 halftime lead, then used a 13-4 spurt in the third to help them increase the advantage to 22 points. Margin was never below 11 points the rest of the way as Mustafa Shakur paced Ludwigsburg in victory with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Rocky Trice had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, while Royce O’Neale netted 12 on 4-for-8 three-point shooting. Dragan Milosavljevic had 14 points and 5 rebounds for ALBA, Elmedin Kikanovic scored 13, and Mitchell Watt 10 points in defeat.

O’Neale hit a three-pointer to open the account for the hosts who grabbed 7-2 lead, but Watt and Will Cherry got ALBA going, and with a triple from Ismet Akpinar a 0-9 run made it 7-11. But Trice hit a fastbreak three for the hosts, that helped them grab 14-13 edge after 10 minutes, before Shawn Huff and O’Neale hit triples early in the second for Ludwigsburg. O’Neale’s dagger was also a start of an 8-0 run for 25-15. Trice, Shakur and Huff helped keep the lead in double figures, as ALBA was held without a field goal for more than 5 minutes to end the second quarter, and Ludwigsburg held 36-24 at the break.

Milosavljevic for ALBA, and O’Neale for Ludwigsburg started the fireworks in the third period. Shakur strung together 7 points, including a triple, and despite baskets from Milosavljevic and Kreso Loncar, three-pointer from O’Neale made it 49-30. Milosavljevic nailed a three for the Berliners, but Brad Loesing and Jason Boone scored for the hosts to break a 20-point barrier. Adam Waleskowski made it 56-34, and Loesing scored for 60-38 with 3:30 left in the third quarter. ALBA had an answer with a three-point play from Loncar, a put-back from Kikanovic and a triple from Milosavljevic. That 0-8 run helped cut the deficit to 64-48 at the end of the third quarter, before both teams failed to score a single points for almost 3 minutes of the fourth. Akpinar hit a three to end the drought, and Taylor Jordan and Milosavljevic added baskets for the visitors. However, back-to-back threes from Shakur pushed the margin back to 70-55 with 5:47 to go. Baskets were few and far between in the finish of the game, as Ludwigsburg eased to a 19-point win.