ALBA fought until the end, but Zvezda proved too strong
Zvezda hangs on for 71-77 win in Berlin
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade held off ALBA Berlin 71-77 on Thursday night at Uber Arena in the German capital to remain at least tied for fourth place as the sides enter the February break. The result lifted Zvezda's record to 16-10, while last-placed ALBA fell to 4-22.
Filip Petrusev bounced back from a 3-point performance earlier in the week to lead Zvezda with 17 points, while Isaiah Canaan added 11 for the winners. David McCormack was on his way to a monster night with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes for ALBA before fouling out in the third quarter. Matteo Spagnolo and Matt Thomas both scored 15 in defeat.
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Petrusev started strong with a steal on one end and a basket through contact at the other. Malte Delow got ALBA on the scoreboard with a put-back and soon after Thomas gave the hosts a 5-4 lead with a three-pointer. McCormack added to the lead before Codi Miller-McIntyre's three evened things midway through the quarter. McCormack scored twice more for ALBA, though Zvezda answered through Nemanja Nedovic and Petrusev. Canaan came off the bench to drain a triple that gave Zvezda a 13-15 edge after 10 minutes.
Canaan and Lous Olinde swapped threes to begin the second quarter. Canaan put Zvezda up 18-22 only for McCormack to come alive and tie the score at 22-22 and 24-24 and – after Petrusev split free throws – the ALBA center made a short jumper to give his team a 26-25 lead. Ognjen Dobric put Zvezda in front with a triple and Rokas Giedraitis made it 28-32 with a jumper from the corner, prompting an ALBA timeout. ALBA fought back with baskets from Will McDowell-White and Spagnolo. John Brown stole the ball from McCormack at one end and scored at the other to give Zvezda a 35-40 halftime lead.
Zvezda scored the first two baskets of the second half, but Matt Thomas stepped up for ALBA with free throws and a three-pointer. ALBA kept the run going with a three by Delow and free throws by Elias Rapieque to even the score at 45-45. There was little to separate the teams over the next few minutes – though Zvezda did miss several free throws – and the score was again tied at 50-50. McCormack came off the bench for a monster alley-oop that tied that game at 52-52, but shortly after he fouled out. Zvezda went on another run through Canaan, Bolomboy and Kalninic. Spagnolo connected from deep to make it 55-59 at the end of the third quarter.
A three by Thomas brought ALBA to within 1 and then Rapieque scored on a put-back and in transition to give the hosts a 62-61 edge. After a timeout, Yago Dos Santos replied with a three-point play. Petrusev scored in the paint and Dos Santos from behind the arc to give Zvezda a 64-69 lead. Despite an ALBA timeout, Petrusev scored in the paint again. Giedraitis made it 66-73 with 3 minutes to go. Delow made a tough bucket for ALBA only to see Giedraitis answer with free throws. Thomas made a clutch three with 43.2 seconds remaining to give ALBA hope at 71-75, but that was as close as ALBA would get.