ALBA beats Baskonia for first home win since November 12
ALBA snaps 4-month home losing streak in first game under Coach Calles

The wait is finally over for ALBA Berlin as the German side won its first home game in four months by beating Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 97-90 in the first contest under new head coach Pedro Calles. ALBA mounted a 13-4 stretch spanning the two final quarters to snap an eight-game home losing streak dating back to its 105-101 victory over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on November 12.
Matt Thomas drained 5 three-pointers for 21 points, Gabriele Procida and Martin Hermannsson both had 13 points and Robert Baker added 12 points and 7 rebounds as ALBA snapped a four-game losing streak for a 5-24 record. Calles took over as ALBA head coach on Wednesday, March 12 and already has a EuroLeague victory under his belt.
Nikos Rogkavopoulos scored 17 points to pace five players in double figures for Baskonia, which fell to 12-17 and has now alternated losses and wins in the last nine games to fall almost completely out of the race for the Play-In Showdown.
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Chima Moneke started hot for the visitors with 7 points in a 2-9 early lead. A Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot three-pointer made it 6-14. Thomas and Procida nailed back-to-back triples to finish a 10-0 ALBA surge for the hosts’ first lead 16-14. There were six lead changes the rest of the way and ALBA led 26-24 after 10 minutes with the home side’s reserves scoring 18 points.
Yanni Wetzell came off the ALBA bench for 5 points and the cushion was 33-29. Baskonia didn’t let ALBA get away and charged back ahead with a 2-11 run for a 35-40 cushion. The next run followed with recent addition Baker scoring 5 points in a 15-4 spurt to lead 50-44. The home side was up 50-46 at the break.
ALBA had a strong start to the second half and a Hermannsson three-pointer gave the hosts their biggest lead at 59-50. Baskonia punched back with the next 7 points to make it a 2-point game. Thomas answered with a three-pointer and added another triple and two Procida scores made it 75-67. The score was 75-69 after 30 minutes.
Thomas continued his outstanding game with a layup and his fifth three-pointer to put ALBA ahead 80-69 early on in the final frame. Baskonia committed four turnovers in the first 2 minutes and ALBA extended the advantage to 84-71. A Baker triple increased the lead to 16 points - 89-73 - with less than 5 minutes to feel like the dagger. Baskonia was not done with Luwawu-Cabarrot and Howard hitting three-pointers to close within 93-84 with 101 seconds left. With ALBA buckling, 21-year-old Elias Rapieque tipped in a miss with 1:20 minutes remaining for his only score of the game to finish off Baskonia.