Real Madrid survived a strong fightback from ALBA Berlin to take a 63-72 road win in the German capital on Friday night.
Real holds firm to triumph in Berlin
Real Madrid survived a strong fightback from ALBA Berlin to take a 63-72 road win in the German capital on Friday night. Real took early control to establish a double-digit lead before the end of the first quarter, and that advantage was maintained until half-time, 30-40. Real protected its lead in the third period, but ALBA mounted an 11-0 fourth quarter run to get within 63-65 before Real pulled clear for good. Fabien Causeur led the winners with 13 points, and Carlos Alocen scored 12. Walter Tavares nearly grabbed a double-double with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots, while Gabriel Deck added 9 points and 8 boards. ALBA’s Luka Sikma topped all scorers with 16 points, with Ben Lammers (11) and Marcus Eriksson (10) also in double figures. Real improves to 15-8 to protect its position in the top four, while ALBA drops to 8-15.
Real made a fast start through Causeur inside and Alberto Abalde from deep. Lammers got ALBA on the board before Alocen and Sikma traded classy close-range finishes, 4-7. Lammers and Causeur hit from deep before Simone Fontecchio added another triple for a 10-10 tie. Usman Garuba, Tavares and Abalde scored around the basket as Real opened up a big lead, and Deck also penetrated to layup before Eriksson ended a 0-10 run with a floater as the first quarter ended 14-22. Trey Thompkins scored twice early in the second quarter to keep Real comfortable despite triples from Maodo Lo and Louis Olinde. Tavares netted inside for a 19-30 advantage, before Sikma and Thompkins traded triples. An open dunk from Lammers brought ALBA closer, but Rudy Fernandez hit a triple to make it 30-40 at the break.
Causeur opened the second half scoring, just as he did in the first, but Eriksson and Sikma responded with triples to pull ALBA back to 36-42. Causeur steadied Real with his own three-pointer in a low-scoring passage of play. Alocen restored Real’s double-digit lead with a driving layup and then added a triple, but Olinde gave ALBA hope from beyond the arc. Alocen stayed hot with a three-point play, making it 42-54. Johannes Thiemann also struck from deep, but Alocen again scored in penetration and Deck made it 47-59 at the end of the third. Jeff Taylor scored in transition and added a reverse layup to stretch the lead at the start of the fourth, before Fontecchio and Eriksson gave ALBA hope. But Taylor added an alley-oop slam to keep the lead in double figures, 52-65, with 5 minutes left. Olinde struck a long two and Sikma added a corner three to give ALBA hope, and Jonas Mattiseck’s mid-range jumper followed by Lammers’ flicked finish made it 63-65 with 2 minutes left. But Tavares snapped the 11-0 run and scored Real’s first basket in 6 minutes with a layup and one, before Thompkins made a great steal and Deck scored inside to seal the deal.
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Real dominates rebounding battle
Real crashed the boards from the opening tip, grabbing no less than 14 rebounds in the first quarter alone including 4 on the offensive end. The visiting team ended up winning the rebounding battle 31-42.
Gulf in two-point accuracy
The inside dominance enjoyed by Real was also reflected in the shooting stats: the Spanish team made 22 of its 34 two-point shots (64.7%), while ALBA could only convert 13-of-39 from inside the arc (33.3%). That helped Real overcome committing 17 turnovers, 6 more than ALBA.
Ten in a row for Real
The victory maintains a perfect record against ALBA for Real, which has now won all ten games between the teams this century.