Gran Canaria takes inside track for second place with season sweep of Ulm
Strong fourth quarter carries Gran Canaria past Ulm 76-83

Dreamland Gran Canaria took a giant step towards a top-two spot in Group A after knocking off ratiopharm Ulm 76-83 on the road to snap a two-game losing streak. Gran Canaria blew a tight game wide open with a 0-16 fourth-quarter run to improve to 10-4 on the season. The Spanish side won both games against Ulm this season - including a 125-78 blowout in Round 5.
Carlos Alocen collected 14 points and 5 assists, Miquel Salvo had 11 points, Mike Tobey tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and Nicolas Brussino picked up 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners. Ulm saw its five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 9-5. Ben Saraf poured in a career-high 19 points, Alfonso Plummer scored 13 points and Marcio Santos chipped in 10 points in the loss.
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The hosts had some bad news straight away as veteran point guard Thomas Klepeisz had to be carried off after just 23 seconds with an apparent foot injury and did not return. Ulm got on the break for two easy baskets and Saraf added a triple as the hosts went up 9-2. Alocen sparked the Gran Canaria attack early on with 8 points including a long triple and Brussino’s long ball knotted it 16-16. Ulm buried three-pointers at the other end and led 24-18 after 10 minutes.
Ulm failed to score for nearly the first 4 minutes of the second quarter and Gran Canaria reeled off 12 straight points for a 24-30 lead. Two Saraf scores were equalized at the other end and Gran Canaria went up 29-35. But Ulm kept the visitors scoreless for more than 3 minutes and reclaimed the lead 36-35. Caleb Homesley’s jumper put Gran Canaria back up 36-37 at the break.
Ulm went back ahead 42-41 only to see Pierre Pelos make a triple and convert a three-point play for a 44-50 advantage. Plummer punched back with two baskets and Ulm tied the game 52-52. A Philipp Herkenhoff tip-in and 2 free throws had the home side up 59-55 after 30 minutes.
Karim Jallow started the fourth quarter with a score for a 61-55 lead for Ulm. Gran Canaria’s defense stepped up, not giving up a point for the next 7:30 minutes and the Spanish side surged ahead with a 0-16 run thanks to a `pair of Alocen triples. A Mehdy Ngouama three finished off Ulm for a 63-75 cushion with 105 seconds to play.