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Jayson Granger (center) has been recognized as the most valuable player MVP in the final series of the German basketball championship
Photo:
Markus Fischer / imago images / Passion2Press
Alba Berlin is German basketball champion for the tenth time.
The team of coach Aito Garcia Reneses won the fourth final game at Bayern Munich with 86:79 (38:30) and secured the decisive third victory in the best-of-five series and the title defense.
Jayson Granger played a decisive role in the success with 29 points.
Bayern, clearly weakened by injuries, were not enough for Wade Baldwin's 18 points for the necessary home win, which would have forced a decisive fifth duel in Berlin on Tuesday.
The game was overshadowed by reports on the health of Bayern star Paul Zipser.
The national player missed the final series due to "neurological problems," as Bayern announced last Wednesday.
On Sunday morning, the dpa news agency reported that Zipser had to undergo emergency surgery due to a brain hemorrhage.
SPIEGEL information confirms this, according to which the intervention took place on the morning of the first day of the final.
"Paul is doing well under the circumstances, we do not want to say more about this," said the Munich media director Andreas Burkert of the dpa.
Burkert asked on behalf of the family to respect the 27-year-old's privacy in the near future.
In the first break of the game on Sunday, the supporters sent encouraging applause in the direction of Zipser at the request of the hall spokesman.
The former NBA professional was one of the guarantors of success this season.
Without the winger, Bayern had a very difficult time against the aggressive defense of Berlin throughout the final series, even in the fourth game.
The Bavarians are losing their strength
In their 90th game, Bayern's dwindling strength was noticeable as the day before at 69:81.
In front of another 1,300 spectators, the hosts remained without points in the first almost five minutes.
In the attack, there was a lack of ideas and the strength to find the gap among the Berliners with a slightly better staff.
The fact that center Leon Radosevic scored the first Bayern points with a three was telling.
Only six more followed in the first quarter.
Thanks to their slightly better physique and led by top scorer Granger, the Berliners made the coup perfect.
Maodo Lo won the championship with the third club, something that had previously only been achieved by Holger Geschwindner, Mike Jackel and Stephan Baeck.
Lo had previously triumphed with Brose Bamberg (2017) and Bayern (2019).
For the German national team from Berlin it goes straight to the next.
Lo, Niels Giffey and Johannes Thiemann are part of the line-up for the Supercup next weekend (June 18 to 20) in Hamburg, which is in preparation for the Olympic qualification in Split / Croatia (June 29 to July 4).
The fourth duel of the final series was the 84th game of the season for Euroleague participant Alba.
hba / ngo / dpa / sid