ratiopharm ulm returned to their winning ways with their return home after their exhausting road trip with a hard-fought 85-76 victory over RASTA Vechta. Ulm were playing their first home game since October 5 following a 16-day, six-game, five-country, essentially three-continent and 16,000-kilometer road trip. Ty Harrelson’s team snapped a five-game losing streak including an early exit from the German BBL Cup against Bamberg Baskets and their first loss in the easyCredit BBL versus EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Ben Saraf led the way with 18 points and Alfonso Plummer added 17 points for Ulm, who are now 4-1 in the league. Vechta dropped their fourth straight game for a 1-4 record in the league despite Brandon Randolph scoring 17 points and Jayden Gardner tallying a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Game Summary: Vechta scored the first 4 points of the game and then Ben Saraf had 5 points for a 9-6 advantage. Alfonso Plummer drained three straight three-pointers and added a steal and layup for a 25-15 Ulm lead, which was 25-18 after 10 minutes. Ulm started the second quarter with another Plummer three-pointer and three-point plays by Marcio Santos and Saraf in opening a 36-20 lead. Nelson Weidemann and Santos both added triples and the cushion grew to 20 points - 49-29. And the hosts led 50-32 at halftime.
Vechta came out of the locker room stronger and cut the gap down to 61-50. Ulm punched right back with five straight points but Vechta kept the hosts scoreless for the final 2:57 minutes of the quarter and trailed just 66-58 after 30 minutes. Vechta were still sticking around down 71-63 when Saraf and Tommy Klepeisz both hit three-pointers in a 10-0 run to put Ulm ahead 81-63 with 3 minutes left. Vechta did not give up as Jayden Gardner scored 7 points in an 11-1 spurt to get within 82-74 with 82 seconds to go. Plummer ended Vechta’s hopes with three free throws to give Ulm the win.
Numbers Please: Ulm dominated the rebounding with a 45-34 advantage including 18-10 in offensive rebounds, which led to a massive 31-10 difference in second chance points. Ulm also buried 13 three-pointers to 7 for Vechta.
Player of the Game: Ben Saraf came back after missing Ulm's last game of the road trip and scored a team-high 18 points including 2 three-pointers. The 18-year-old Israeli also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
The Germans: Nicolas Bretzel picked up 8 points and 2 rebounds, Nelson Weidemann had 6 points and Karim Jallow scored 0 points but collected 2 offensive rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Vechta's teenage big man Johann Grünloh tallied 11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, Joel Aminu scored 8 points and Joschka Ferner added 4 points in the defeat.
Also Newsworthy Part 1: Ulm's injury issues appear to be behind them as Karim Jallow played his first game since the opener against NINERS Chemnitz while Isaiah Roby returned after missing the last three games and Tommy Klepeisz and Ben Saraf were also back after missing the most recent BKT EuroCup game.
Also Newsworthy Part 2: Vechta came into the game having won the last three games against Ulm, but those three came with Ty Harrelson at the helm - the current Ulm coach who was going against his former team and helped Ulm improve to 10-3 against Vechta.
What's Up Next: Ulm will stay at home for their next game as well with a BKT EuroCup showdown against Dolomiti Energia Trento on Wednesday October 30. They will then host Veolia Towers Hamburg on Saturday November 2. Vechta’s next game will also be on the road as they play MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg on Saturday November 2.
Video: Highlights of this game will be available soon on Dyn's website or here on Dyn's YouTube channel.
Anmerkung: In der Saison 2024/25 werden wie hier auch gelegentlich Nachberichte in englischer Sprache verfasst.
Note: During the 2024-25 season, there will occasionally be game reports published in English.
