Alba Berlin suffered a defeat in the clash between the group favorites at AEK Athens. The Berliners had the game in the Greek capital under control for a long time, but ultimately lost by a narrow margin of 80:88.
For a long time, Berlin had the rebound battle under control, but in the end it was two offensive rebounds by Athens that put AEK on the road to victory. Vasilis Charalampopoulos was fouled twice, and both times the Greek sank both free throws. Alba also collapsed offensively, scoring only ten points in the fourth quarter, while Athens scored 24.
Jack Kayil was once again Berlin’s top scorer with 20 points (6/14 FG, 7/8 FT), but after a good start, he missed several shots, especially from distance. In fact, Alba only made eight of 28 from beyond the arc, with only Moses Wood (17, 4/7 3P) finding his range. Norris Agbakoko (12, 8 rebounds) and Martin Hermannsson (11, 7 assists) also scored in double figures. But Berlin had the answer.
Alba only scores ten points in the final quarter
Within a very short time, the visitors scored eight points in a row thanks to three-pointers from Malte Delow and Wood, the latter following up with a fast break dunk. And then it was Kayil’s turn again. He drew free throws, hit a difficult fadeaway with the board and finished an And-1 for the first double-digit lead (54:65). However, Athens shook it off once again, with Lukas Lekavicius cutting the deficit to 64:70 for the hosts as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a tough one, with Athens missing several chances to take the lead earlier on. But with three minutes to go, they finally did so and Alba didn’t have much left to offer in response.
AEK remains undefeated in the group, while Berlin has now played two of three away games. In a week’s time, Berlin will play its first home game when it welcomes underdog Karditsa from Greece to the Uber Arena.
