Overview
- Alba rallied from a second-half deficit to beat FC Bayern 71–61 on Friday, tying the best-of-five final 2–2 and preventing Bayern from clinching the title.
- Justin Bean led Alba with 17 points and nine rebounds while Nenad Dimitrijevic was Bayern’s top scorer with 14 points.
- Bayern, who held a double-digit lead in the third quarter, produced only 16 points after halftime as Alba’s defense and rebounding (29 defensive vs. 22 for Bayern) swung the game.
- The result delays coach Svetislav Pešić’s planned retirement and sends a winner-takes-all Game 5 to Bayern’s SAP Garden on Sunday at 16:30.
- The series has featured tactical shifts—Alba’s repeated defensive focus on Andreas Obst and Bayern’s rotation questions around Xavier Rathan-Mayes—and a raucous, hot Max-Schmeling-Halle crowd of about 8,899 that amplified momentum swings.