The visitors claimed the head-to-head tiebreak advantage over their fellow playoff contender
Buducnost wins thriller at Ulm, 82-85
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica kept its BKT EuroCup Playoffs hopes alive by edging ratiopharm Ulm 82-85 on Wednesday evening. The hosts started strong, but Buducnost led for most of the game before a comeback saw Ulm take a narrow lead in the closing stages. Yet, Buducnost tightened up its defense in crunch time and clinched the road victory. The visitors claimed the head-to-head tiebreak advantage over Ulm and improved their record to 8-8, with Ulm dropping to 9-7.
Rasheed Sulaimon led all scorers with a season-high 27 points. McKinley Wright netted 18 and Kenan Kamenjas chipped in with 12 points. Noa Essengue paced Ulm with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Ben Saraf recorded 14 and 5 assists, with Alfonso Plummer netting 10 in a losing effort.
Game Videos
Marcio Santos opened the scoring with a triple before 6 straight points from Karim Jallow gave Ulm a 9-4 cushion. Wright and Sulaimon scored inside, with the latter completing a three-point play to tie it up, 9-9. Buckets by Kamenjas and Juwan Morgan gave Buducnost its first lead of the game, 12-17. Andrija Slavkovic’s three-point play was followed by a triple from Fletcher Magee, who extended Buducnost’s run to 1-14 for a 13-23 lead. Yogi Ferrell netted a layup and Nikola Tanaskovic opened his account from the free-throw line, with the visitors securing a 16-27 cushion after 10 minutes.
Saraf took over with 7 points to start the second quarter, trimming the deficit to 25-31. The game turned into a back-and-forth affair, as Essengue converted a three-point play as a response to Ferrell’s triple before Jallow and Alen Omic traded buckets, 30-36. But Sulaimon drilled one from deep and Wright scored 7 straight points to restore a 34-46 cushion. A Sulaimon three was followed by a layup from Kamenjas and a jumper by Wright to make it 36-53. Justinian Jessup and Nelson Weidemann netted inside, but Sulaimon hit again from deep, allowing Buducnost to maintain a 41-56 cushion at halftime.
The hosts opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run inspired by Saraf and slashed the deficit to 52-58. Sulaimon ended Ulm’s momentum with his fourth triple of the evening before Kamenjas and Slavkovic scored inside, establishing a 55-65 lead. Plummer scored 5 consecutive points on the other end, but Sulaimon responded with an off-balance jumper, 60-69. Isaiah Roby drained a three and Essengue added 5 points to his tally to bring Ulm within 68-71 heading into the closing quarter.
Essengue opened the fourth with a powerful slam, which was the only field goal scored by either team in the first 3 and a half minutes before a Roby dunk made it 72-73. Sulaimon scored inside, but Plummer and Jessup drilled back-to-back triples to put Ulm ahead, 78-77, with 4 minutes remaining. Then, Saraf and Essengue made a couple of free throws each to maintain an 82-79 lead with 1 minute left on the clock. But Wright made 2 of 2 from the charity stripe and Sulaimon completed a three-point play to put Buducnost back in front, 82-84. Jessup didn’t manage to hit the midrange jumper on the other end, with Sulaimon sealing the outcome from the line.