Surne Bilbao delivered a dominant performance at Miribilla. Needing to win against ALBA Berlin by four points to overturn the 103-100 first-leg result, they won by eight in a game they controlled from start to finish. Jaume Ponsarnau's side, unbeaten at home this season, reclaim first place in Group G with the tiebreaker in their favor. ALBA, coached by Spanish head coach Pedro Calles, suffer their first defeat in the competition.
Bilbao in Command from the Start
Bilbao came out strong and led by eight in the first quarter. Three-pointers from Joe Wieskamp and Brandon Angel brought ALBA closer, but the first quarter ended 22-18; a deep three-pointer from Martin Hermannsson at the buzzer didn't count because it arrived out of time. In the second quarter, German turnovers gave Bilbao opportunities, and five straight points from Darrun Hilliard opened up an eight-point lead again. Jack Kayil, returning from injury, cut the difference to six at halftime (45-39).
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Third Quarter Decided by Defense
Bilbao started the second half with three turnovers, and Angel chained five points to bring ALBA closer. But Ponsarnau's defense shut down the paint: the Germans scored just seven points from the field in the entire third quarter, and Bilbao reached their largest lead of the game, 11 points (64-53). ALBA won the final quarter (19-22), but spent the last three minutes without scoring a basket from the field, and the lead never dropped below the four points Bilbao needed.