ALBA Berlin opened the German League semifinals with 89-84 win over MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the first game of their best-of-five series. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade is up 1-0 in the Adriatic League finals against Partizan NIS Belgrade after its win on Friday night.
Domestic leagues: ALBA, Zvezda win series openers
ALBA opened its first significant lead when Maodo Lo scored 7 points, including a triple, to help his team open a 60-51 lead midway through the third. Ludwigsburg was not going away, however, and went back in front on a triple from James Woodard early in the fourth, 72-74. But ALBA responded with a 6-0 run with Lo in the main role again, before back-to-back threes from Jaleen Smith, then a triple from Tamir Blatt opened 89-81 entering the final minute, icing the game. Lo finished with 20 points, mith netted 18 on 4-for-11 three-point shooting and had 6 rebounds, while Oscar da Silva had 13 points in a victory. Jordan Hulls had 26 and Woodard 24 points in a loss. The other semifinal series featured FC Bayern Munich and Telekom Baskets Bonn.
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade defeated Partizan NIS Belgrade 90-76 to take 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Adriatic League final series. Teams traded leads in the first half, with Balsa Koprivica giving Partizan an early spark. Aleksa Avramovic and Kevin Punter each hit a three-pointer and the visitors held 19-23 after the first quarter, but Ognjen Dobric, Dejan Davidovac and Nikola Ivanovic got Zvezda going in the second quarter with teams trading leads before a three-pointer from Ivanovic made it 42-39 at the half. Zvezda took control with an 8-0 run to open the third quarter, sparked by a triple from Nate Wolters. A pair of triples from Dobric opened 56-43 after 4 minutes in the third and Zvezda never looked back. Punter did score 11 points third-quarter points to cut into deficit and Dallas Moore hit back-to-back triple to get Partizan within 70-64. But consecutive three-pointers from Ivanovic restored a double-digit margin and Zvezda took 1-0 series lead. Ivanovic led Zvezda with 18 points while Luka Mitrovic and Dobric scored 14 apiece. Wolters had 11 and Davidovac 10 points in a victory. Punter led Partizan with 15 points, Moore netted 12, Zach LeDay scored 11 and Avramovic 10 points in defeat.
The Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champ Anadolu Efes Istanbul lost the opener of their Turkish League semifinals against Galatasaray, 70-105. Teams traded blows in the first half, and Tibor Pleiss scored 7 points in the second quarter for Efes but it was the visitor who took control and a slim lead. Back-to-back three-pointers from Dee Bost and one from Isaiah Canaan opened 34-43 halftime lead. With three more triples from Bost, Galatasaray scored the first 11 points of the second half, opened a 20-point lead and Efes never managed to come back. Egemen Guven scored 15 points, and Pleiss scored all 11 of his points in the first half. Bost finished with 22 for the winners who hit 18 three-pointers for the night.