

ratiopharm Ulm trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter and 10 entering the fourth, but rallied late to beat U-BT Cluj-Napoca 81-84 on Wednesday at BTarena. Robin Christen scored 26 points on perfect shooting, Karim Jallow tallied 21 points and 4 steals and Brandon Paul added 10 points, but it was Juan Nunez who buried the game-winning three with 11.5 seconds remaining. The result raised Ulm’s record to 5-4, while Cluj fell to 3-6 at the midway point of the regular season. Emanuel Cate and Patrick Richard scored 13 points apiece for Cluj and Stefan Bircevic and Nemanja Gordic each had 10 in defeat.
Karel Guzman and Andrija Stipanovic each scored twice as Cluj raced to an 11-5 lead. The hosts then finished the quarter on an 8-0 tear to claim the game’s first double-digit lead, 24-12.
After a lengthy delay to deal with an issue at the scorekeepers’ table, Ulm looked stronger inside with Josh Hawley scoring twice. Cate took charge inside with a pair of baskets to give the hosts a 30-16 advantage. Christen knocked down a pair of triples and a layup to help Ulm reduce the deficit to 33-28. Nandor Kuti’s layup in the final seconds restored a double-digit margin, 44-34, at halftime.
Richard helped the hosts extend the lead back up to 15, though Ulm's young stars kept the visitors fighting. Brandon Paul’s triple on the third-quarter buzzer made it 65-55.
Ulm scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter and free throws by Yago Dos Santos made it 69-66 midway through the fourth quarter. Christen’s fifth triple of the night made it a 2-point game. Gordic made sure Cluj maintained the lead, however, Ulm kept it close and Jallow’s triple give Ulm its first lead since the opening minutes, 79-81, with less than a minute remaining. Guzman tied it but Juan Nunez’s three with 11.5 seconds left gave Ulm the lead for good.