ALBA wins shootout at home with Tofas

ALBA Berlin prevailed in an offensive shootout in opening its 7DAYS EuroCup season with a 107-91 home victory over Tofas Bursa in Group D. Niels Giffey’s 20 points paced five ALBA players in double figures while Clint Chapman had 19 points and Peyton Siva added 9 points and 14 assists - just 2 assists shy of the EuroCup single game record. ALBA had 33 assists - 1 behind the single game team mark - while hitting 12 of 23 three-pointers and committing just 11 turnovers. Tofas was actually even hotter from long range (14 of 22 threes). But 20 points from Demonte Harper and 17 points from Diante Garrett were not enough.

ALBA jumped ahead 10-2 in the early going. Tofas kept it close at 21-16, but the hosts were up 30-19 after 10 minutes. Giffey scored 10 points as ALBA opened a 44-32 lead. Harper had 12 points in the second quarter in getting Tofas to within 55-54 at the break. Tim Schneider nailed 3 three-pointers to keep ALBA close, but Garrett and Harper both hit from downtown as Tofas only briefly trailed in the third quarter and was up 74-75 after 30 minutes. ALBA took control of the game in the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run that included three-pointers from Martin Hermannsson and Giffey to make it 90-78. It did not get closer than 9 points the rest of the way.

IN SHORT

ALBA Berlin put on an offensive display - and that despite missing its two top big men, Dennis Clifford and Johannes Thiemann - and managed to pick up a big home victory to start off its EuroCup campaign. Tofas's accuracy from long range came back to Earth a bit in the fourth and gone was a chance at a road win.

PIVOTAL PERFORMER

It’s hard to pick a single standout player for ALBA but Giffey was pivotal with his 4 three-pointers and 20 points on 9 shots. He also had 2 steals.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

So many names to list for ALBA as Peyton Siva seemed destined to set the EuroCup single game assist record, but fell just short. Chapman was outstanding after coming on board late to the team. And Luke Sikma had his usual all-around game. Also worth mentioning: ALBA’s 17-year-old talent Franz Wagner made his 7DAYS EuroCup debut and had 2 rebounds in nearly 5 minutes.

GAME-CHANGING MOMENT

Midway through the fourth quarter, Martin Hermannsson had just nailed a three-pointer to put ALBA up 84-78. Kenny Kadji committed an unsportsmanlike foul, which resulted in a Hermannsson free throw and then Giffey draining another three and his next basket gave ALBA a 92-80 advantage.

NEXT GAMES

ALBA will look to move to 2-0 as it heads to the road to face Cedevita Zagreb. Tofas hopes to bounce back and use its home fans to grab a first win against Arka Gdynia.