ALBA Berlin kicked off its first BCL season against Elan Chalon, the two-time French champions who recently beat Monaco. The focus was on changing the rhythm, rebounding on their own board, and distributing playing time.
Elan Chalon won 81-76 at ALBA Berlin. The Berliners got off to a better start (10-2) before Nate Darling turned the lead around for the visitors to 15-17 with his eighth point. ALBA struggled offensively at times, especially in sequences without Boogie Ellis, who carried the brunt of the shot creation and already had 12 points at the start of the second quarter. In addition, foul trouble slowed down the guard spots: Jack Kayil picked up his third foul early on, followed shortly thereafter by Martin Hermannsson with a questionable blocking call. Shortly before the break, however, ALBA got rolling: Norris Agbakoko made it 40:35 with a putback, and Berlin led 43:35 at halftime. The defensive board remained a problem area: Chalon had grabbed ten offensive rebounds by then.
After the break, the game turned around within a few minutes. With six minutes left in the third quarter, Pedro Calles called a timeout – ALBA had not scored in the quarter so far, while Chalon had gone on an 11-0 run to take a 46-43 lead. Ellis sat out longer, was consistently flashed in the pick-and-roll, and the Berlin offense lost its structure. In the final quarter, the visitors were ahead 71-66 with five minutes to go. ALBA had a few wild sequences during this phase and fell behind 74-66 shortly afterwards.
Drama in the final minutes
The final minutes were still exciting, though: Ellis and Hermannsson each hit a three-pointer to make it 74-72. With his team trailing by a narrow margin, Ellis fouled Nadolny while bringing the ball up the court; due to team fouls, the guard sank both free throws. Justin Bean responded with a layup, but Jeremiah Hill sank a difficult fadeaway three-pointer over Malte Delow with four seconds left – the dagger that sealed the away win. All in all, 20 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds conceded proved too costly. Noteworthy: ALBA went through the evening with a broad rotation (10 players with 11+ minutes), Ellis played less than 25 minutes despite scoring 27 points.
