GER - Alba Berlin sent packing from play-offs

BERLIN (BBL) - Regular season champions Alba Berlin were swept out of the German BBL play-offs on Sunday as Artland Dragons won their third straight game against the top seeds 93-71.

Reigning champions RheinEnergie fell behind 2-1 with a loss at Eisbaren Bremerhaven, while Brose Baskets Bamberg grabbed a 2-1 series lead with a home victory over Telekom Baskets Bonn, and Bayer Giants Leverkusen claimed victory to stay alive 2-1 against EnBW Ludwigsburg.

Artland's Puerto Rican play-maker Filiberto Rivera had yet another superb all-around performance in collecting 16 points, five rebound and five assists in the Dragons' second victory in the German capital.

Rivera was the main catalyst in coach Chris Fleming's offence, who made 10 of 16 three-pointers and shot 57% (29-of-56) overall.

"I'm very proud of my team, which really gave everything they had and stayed together," said Fleming, whose team will meet either Koln or Bremerhaven in the semi-final.

"We had a lot of injuries this season and needed a long time to integrate those players back into the team. Alba had the same problem but more bad luck with the timing of their injuries - right before the play-offs.

"That's something to remember about this series. Still, my team accomplished something tremendous," he added.

Lamont McIntosh bagged 19 points with Adam Hess scoring 13 for Artland, while Fleming again received loads of production from his bench in Chad Prewitt and Bryan Bailey - each scoring 12 points.

Berlin, who have now gone four seasons without a German crown, struggled offensively, shooting 41% (27-of-65) from the field and just three of 21 from three-point range.

"This is one of the bitterest moments in my basketball career," said Berlin coach Henrik Rodl, who lost the game in the third quarter with Artland opening a 16-point lead in the period.

"It's a huge disappointment for me to lose in this great arena in front of our great fans and for a club which invested so much work. This is not how we wanted to depart after what we did this season and with how good this team actually is. And I carry the responsibility for that."

Chris Owens netted 16 points in a losing cause while Julius Jenkins added 13 with five assists.

Reigning champions Koln find themselves against the wall, down 2-1 in the series after losing 88-80 at Bremerhaven.

Charles-Judson Wallace paced the home team with 15 points and nine rebounds while Adam Chubb had 18 points and seven rebounds.

"The worst thing is that we really can't be happy about today's victory because we're not through yet," said Bremerhaven coach Sarunas Saklauskas. "But of course I'm very satisfied with the win and the team's performance.

"The game today was mainly a question of psyche. But that both teams played so well - and that in the play-offs - is really satisfying."

Koln have dropped two straight since winning the opener on the road as Devin Green's 11 points and 10 rebounds were not enough. Immanuel McElroy added 19 points in a losing cause.

In Bamberg, Darren Fenn (18 points and 13 rebounds) and Chris Ensminger (16 and 10) both had double-doubles in the home team’s 76-59 victory over Bonn.

The hosts out-rebounded their visitors 44-28 and overcame 57% (23-of-40) free throw shooting to open a 2-1 series lead.

"This was surely our best game of the series, where we showed consistency over four quarters. We preserved home court advantage and it will be 40 very difficult minutes on Tuesday. And that's what we're concentrating now," said Bamberg coach Dirk Bauermann.

Bonn's Jason Conley had 13 points while Bamberg held playmaker Jason Gardner to five points and one assist.

Record 14-time German champions Leverkusen remained alive in the first round with an 86-78 victory at Ludwigsburg.

Jared Newson came off the bench for 18 points and 11 rebounds and Eric Taylor added 11 and nine for the winners - who are down 2-1 going into Tuesday's Game Four.

"We showed a lot of character and now we're going to try everything we can to have (injured) Nate Fox fit again for Game Four - so at least he can play a few important minutes," said Leverkusen coach Achim Kuczmann.

Ludwigsburg wasted an excellent all-around performance by Jerry Green, who had 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

David Hein
FIBA