ALBA wins third place in Belgrade

ALBA Berlin clinched third place at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Belgrade qualifier by beating Zemun Belgrade 81-72. Ferdinand Zylka led the way for ALBA with 24 points including four three-pointers while Lukas Wank scored 14 points, Moritz Wagner added 12 and Moses Poelking collected 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Dorde Dimitrijevic paced Zemun with 20 points, four rebounds and six assists while Nikola Cirkovic pitched in 14 points and five rebounds, and Aleksa Dobrijevic scored 12 points in the loss.

Wagner opened the game with the first score and it was 5-0 after a three-point play by Tim Schneider. After a Luka Radovanovic basket, Wank had ALBA up 7-2. Lars Lagerpusch pushed ALBA ahead 9-5 but the German side went scoreless for 3:19 minutes while Radovanovic nailed a three-pointer and Dimitrijevic made it 9-13. Zylka snapped the scoring drought and Poelking evened the game at 13-13. Aleksa Dobrijevic knocked down a three-ball and two foul shots as Zemun pulled back ahead 13-19. And the lead was 15-21 after 10 minutes. Zylka opened the second quarter with a dunk while two free throws and a three-pointer by Wank evened the contest at 22-22. Dimitrijevic scored the next four points and it was 26-30 after Cirkovic’s basket. ALBA reeled off the next six points - the last three on a Zykla three-pointer to make it 32-30. Radovanovic answered with a three-ball off the glass and an Drobrijevic put-back had Zemun ahead 32-35. Poelking hit one free throw and an inside basket to get ALBA within 35-37. And the score was 35-39 at intermission.

Dimitrijevic opened the second half with a score but both teams struggled to score in the early going of the third quarter. Poelking’s inside basket had ALBA within 38-43. But Dobrijevic knocked down a jumper and Petar Balovic nailed a three-pointer to increase the advantage to 38-48. But Schneider and Felix Carels both hit three-balls and Poelking scored after two offensive rebounds before a Zylka layup on the break to trim the gap to 49-50 and a Zemun time out. Cirkovic’s free throw snapped a 3:27-minute scoreless stretch and Dimitrijevic hit a jumper on the next possession to make it 49-53. ALBA grabbed the lead by the end of the third quarter on a Zylka three-pointer and a driving layup to go ahead 54-53. Milos Bojanovic drained a three-ball to start the fourth quarter and followed that with a driving layup for a 54-58 Zemun lead and an ALBA time out. Zylka got the German club on the scoreboard before a driving layup from Dimitrijevic for a 56-60 Zemun advantage. ALBA rushed back and grabbed the lead after back-to-back three-pointers from Wagner and Zylka and it was 64-60 after a Wank driving hook with seven minutes to play. Stefan Drobnjak knocked down a jumper to temporarily stop the ALBA surge, but Carels knocked down a three-pointer from the right corner to push the advantage to 67-62. And Julius During hit a triple from the left corner to make it 70-64. Zylka joined the three-point barrage with a long ball to put ALBA ahead 73-66 with less than three minutes to play. Wank added another three and Wagner converted a three-point play to make it 79-68 with 32 seconds left - icing the win.