Ban Saraf came alive late to keep Ulm perfect on the season
Ulm beats Joventut, 87-83, for second straight win
ratiopharm Ulm celebrated its second victory of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup season by beating Joventut Badalona 87-83 at Ratiopharm Arena on Tuesday. The hosts were in control of the game from the off and managed to maintain their lead throughout. Following its first win on home soil this season, Ulm now has a 2-0 record, with Joventut dropping to 1-1.
Nelson Weidemann paced Ulm with 17 points and Ben Saraf added 15, with the two Ulm guards scoring 13 apiece in the last quarter. Alfonso Plummer registered 13 points and Isaiah Roby added 10. As for the visitors, Ante Tomic had 18 points, Kassius Robertson recorded 17, Devon Dotson netted 16 and Artem Pustovyi scored 12.
Game Videos
Justinian Jessup started where he finished off last week against Trefl Sopot by drilling a triple to open the scoring, but Joventut responded with baskets from Yannick Kraag and Dotson to take a 3-4 lead. A Philipp Herkenhoff triple was followed by Guillem Vives’s first bucket of the game, but Isaiah Roby put Ulm back in front by hitting 2 free throws, 10-8. Then, Herkenhoff completed a three-point play before youngsters Michael Ruzic and Noa Essengue exchanged triples to make it 18-13. Ulm’s 17-year-old forward finished the first quarter with a three-point play of his own and the hosts extended their lead to 25-17 heading into the second quarter.
Tobias Jensen opened his account from inside before Plummer nailed back-to-back triples to give Ulm a 33-19 cushion. Round 1 MVP Tomic responded with two baskets inside, but Nicolas Bretzel and Jensen netted on the other end, with Ulm maintaining a 37-23 lead midway through the second quarter. Yet, Kraag’s bucket off an offensive rebound was followed by a Robertson three-point play to trim the deficit to single digits, 37-28. Then, Tomic, Pustovyi and Robertson netted a basket each before Roby drilled a triple, with Ulm leading 43-36 at the break.
Ulm went on a 7-0 run to kick off the second half, as a jumper from Saraf was followed by 5 points from Jessup to extend their team’s lead to 50-36. Joventut was held scoreless for almost 3 and a half minutes before Robertson scored a bucket from inside and then hit 2 free throws to reduce the deficit to 51-40. Yet, Ulm replied with Marcio Santos and Plummer knocking down a triple each for a 57-42 lead. But Pustovyi responded with 7 points and Dotson drilled a triple from deep to beat the third-quarter buzzer-beater, 59-52.
Dotson sandwiched triples around a Weidemann three-point play before Tomic and the Ulm guard traded baskets from inside to make it 66-60. Tomic made 3 of 4 from the line to respond to another Weidemann three-pointer before Robertson nailed one from deep to reduce the deficit to 71-66. What followed was an exchange of blows from behind the arc before a Tomic three-point play kept Joventut within 77-72 with 3 minutes to go. Then, Robertson nailed a layup, but Saraf responded with a three-point play on the other end to extend Ulm’s lead to 81-74 and practically finished the game.