ALBA Berlin Climbs to 2nd Place in German BBL

 ALBA Berlin has been making waves recently in Germany’s Easycredit BBL. On January 7th they came away with a crucial blowout win over MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, 86-67. The home win allowed ALBA Berlin (13-4) to swap places with Ludwigsburg (13-4) in the standings. Both clubs still trail league-leaders, FC Bayern Muenchen three games.

The Berliners not only defeated another top-4 team in the league, they got the win via a convincing blowout. The score was actually still close at the end of the first half, with ALBA Berlin squeaking out ahead by one point, 39-38.

Luke Sikma continued with the strong play that he put forth in the first half and helped push his team with a 20-1 run. He ended up with an excellent performance for the night, flirting with a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Fellow American, Peyton Siva also had a strong outing with 12 points and eight assists. Their on-court rapport was visible and it helped translate into some swing-plays and eventually the win itself.