GER - Alba lose home court advantage

BERLIN (Bundesliga) - Regular season champions Alba Berlin relinguished home court advantage in the German BBL play-offs on Sunday with an 87-86 loss to Artland Dragons while defending champions RheinEnergie Koln won at Eisbaren Bremerhaven.

Tommy-Lee Smith collected 19 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and blocked three shots in Artland's surprising opening victory in the German capital, with Filiberto Rivera's lay-up 20 seconds from the end the decisive basket.

"We said beforehand that Alba is the best team," said Dragons coach Chris Fleming. "We wanted to control the ball, which was the case most of the time. Occasionally we had problems with Alba's pressure, but my team showed a lot of poise today. We're in a good position for the series, but it will still be very difficult."

Rivera had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while Adam Hess scored 17 points.

Lamont McIntosh chipped in 15 and Darius Hall returned to action with seven points for the Dragons, who host Game Two on Thursday in Quakenbruck.

"Respect to Quakenbruck, who shot excellently from outside - 52% from three-point range against our aggressive defence and they had rebound advantage (31-23).

"That made the difference in the end. Now we have to travel to Quakenbruck and take back the home court advantage," Berlin coach Henrik Rodl said.

Julius Jenkins, who had 16 points, hit a three-pointer to give Berlin an 84-81 lead with 1:30 remaining, and his two free throws with 39 seconds put Alba ahead for the last time - 86-85.

William Avery had 19 points and eight assists off the bench while Sharrod Ford scored 15 points and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje added 12 points for Berlin.

Fourth seeded Eisbaren Bremerhaven were also unable to give their home fans much to celebrate as they let defending champions RheinEnergie Koln steal Game One 61-60 in a game which included a combined 41 turnovers.

Immanuel McElroy paced Koln with 14 points and seven rebounds as well as hitting two foul shots with 18 seconds left to open a 61-57 lead. Devin Green had 12 points, four rebounds and four steals. Bremerhaven held Koln's main offensive weapon Demond Mallet to 12 points on 4-of-15 shooting, but it wasn't enough.

"Both teams made a lot of mistakes. We were really nervous at the start. But I'm very satisified with things. Tactically, my team did a good job," said Koln coach Sasa Obradovic.

"Of course, we're happy to have won home court advantage, but nobody can think that this series is decided already. Bremerhaven never give up and will come back, I'm sure. What's important was that we held our own against their physical style of play."

Adam Chubb had 18 points for Bremerhaven as did Zygimantas Jonusas, who also added five rebounds and four steals. Brian Jones had eight assists and five rebounds in a losing cause.

Sarunas Sakalauskas's team failed to convert a number of times down the stretch, handing Koln the victory.

After a RheinEnergie turnover at 59-57, Chubb missed an open driving layup with 25 seconds which would have evened the game.

Marcin Gortat missed two free throws for Koln, but Bremerhaven again failed to come through as Jones missed both foul shots with 20 seconds left.

Then, Jonusas hit a three-pointer to make it a 61-60 game with six seconds remaining, but Bremerhaven were unable to foul a Koln player and stop the clock.

"You saw how experienced Koln are and how versatile they can play. We know and respect that, but of course we want to reach the semi-finals. The deciding factor today was that Koln played with a lot of confidence and did the small things right.

"I think we were a little more nervous than Koln. Now we have to come back in a normal state of mind - not too relaxed and not too over-motivated," added Sakalauskas.

While Artland and Koln both grabbed home court advantage in tight contests, second seeded EnBW Ludwigsburg defended their home turf by man-handling Bayer Giants Leverkusen 89-59 to grab a 1-0 series lead.

Regular season MVP Jerry Green had 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 25 minutes of action as 11 Ludwigsburg players scored at least two points and grabbed at least one rebound.

Ludwigsburg extended a 10-point first quarter lead to a 53-31 half-time advantage and didn't let up in the third quarter, leading 76-42 after three periods.

"My team accomplished everything we set out to do in this game. We got into the fast break through our defence. Now it's 1-0 and we have to concentrate on the next game on Thursday," said Ludwigsburg coach Silvano Poropat.

Leverkusen, led by Derrick Allen's 11 points, shot just 26% (17-of-64) from the field and were out-rebounded 48-32.

"This situation is new for my young team. That we beat them twice this season means nothing now. The play-offs have started. And on Thursday we have to play different in front of the home fans," said Leverkusen coach Achim Kuczmann.

The final play-off match-up - Brose Baskets Bamberg hosting Telekom Baskets Bonn - tips off on Monday.

David Hein
FIBA