German Cup final
Three days before they begin their Eurocup Eighthfinals series, visiting ALBA Berlin rallied after halftime to beat host FC Bayern Munich 65-67 for the German Cup title on Sunday. Dragan Milosavljevic hit a runner in the lane with 5.6 seconds left to break a 65-65 tie. When a game-winning three-point try by Justin Cobbs fell short, ALBA had won its ninth national cup since 1997 and denied Bayern its first in almost four decades. Elmedin Kikanovic scored 19 points with only 3 misses on the night and blocked 3 shots for the winners. Jordan Taylor added 18 points, while Milosavljevic had 11 points and 8 rebounds. Bryce Taylor led Bayern with 14 points, followed by Dusko Savanovic with 13 and Anton Gavel with 11. ALBA had led 11-13 after one quarter but Bayern dominated the next 10 minutes to take a 34-25 halftime lead before the visitors rallied to forge a 43-43 tie going into the fourth quarter.
ALBA seemed to have the game in hand when Will Cherry's go-ahead layup was followed by Kikanovic hitting a three-pointer at 56-60 with 2:38 to play, and certainly when Milosavljevic stretched it to 58-65 with 1:35 left on his shot from the arc. But Gavel scored quickly out of a timeout for Bayern, then an unsportsmanlike foul led to Deon Thompson making 2 free throws with 51 seconds left. On the accompanying possession, Savanovic took a desperation three-pointer to beat the shot clock and tie the game, 65-65, with 29 seconds left. After its own timeout, ALBA dribbled down the clock and got the ball to Milosavljevic, who drove from the wing and put up a one-handed runner that bounced twice before dropping through the net.
"We played two tough games and we showed character in both of them: we didn't give up," Milosavljevic said. "Even when we were losing, we didn't stop."