Ulm fails to reach playoffs after suffering its fifth straight loss
Hapoel rallies to beat Ulm 90-97 and lock up ticket to quarterfinals
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Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv locked up an automatic spot in the quarterfinals after rallying from 10 points down to beat ratiopharm Ulm 90-97 and secure second place in Group A. The result also eliminated Ulm from the playoffs. Hapoel wasted a 10-point lead and trailed by 10 points with 8 minutes to go before mounting a 0-13 run and getting a dagger three-pointer from Yam Madar.
The victory was the Israeli side’s sixth in the last seven games for a 12-6 record. Johnathan Motley scored 24 points and Marcus Foster and Madar both added 18 points for the winners. Ulm will miss the playoffs with a 9-9 record as the German side lost its final five games of the season. Justinian Jessup scored 18 points, Ben Saraf had 17 points and Alfonso Plummer chipped in 16 points in the losing effort.
Game Videos
Saraf scored 4 points as Ulm went up 9-4 with Hapoel needing nearly 2 minutes to score. After Ulm lost the lead 10-11, the hosts went back ahead 12-11. The visitors started taking over with Foster and Bruno Caboclo both hitting triples in a 2-9 spurt to lead 14-20. Bar Timor scored the final 5 points of the first quarter - including a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 21-29 lead after 10 minutes.
Hapoel extended the cushion to double digits at 21-31. Saraf responded with 7 points in a 14-4 Ulm answer to knot the game 37-37. Motley took charge at the other end and Hapoel was ahead 43-47. The lead switched hands three times and Ulm led 50-49 at the break.
Hapoel had the better start to the second half with a 2-9 run to go ahead 52-58. Ulm started putting together some stops and Jessup scored 7 points in a 14-0 surge to lead 66-58. Motley stopped the 5-minute drought but Ulm pushed the gap to double figures 70-60. The score was 72-65 after three quarters.
Plummer converted 3 free throws and hit a triple to re-establish a 10-point lead and the cushion was 80-70. Saraf threw down a big dunk to keep Ulm up 83-75. Hapoel looked to wrestle control with a 0-13 spurt to go up 83-88. Ulm finally scored after more than 4 minutes and Nelson Weidemann’s triple tied it 88-88 with 107 seconds to go. Ish Wainright responded with a tip-in and Madar nailed a massive three-pointer to make it 90-95 with 37 seconds to play to seal the outcome.