Andres Feliz starred as the Spanish side advanced to the last eight
Joventut books its spot in the quarterfinals with win at Ulm, 79-88
Joventut Badalona will take on Paris Basketball in the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals after defeating ratiopharm Ulm 79-88 in the first game of the eighthfinals on Tuesday night. Two years on from losing to Ulm in the EuroCup Eighthfinals, Joventut exacted revenge by coming out on top at ratiopharm arena.
Andres Feliz was Joventut’s star on the night, scoring a career-high 28 points. He also had 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and just 1 turnover, good for a career-best PIR of 36. Vladimir Brodziansky was the only other Joventut player to reach double digits in points, netting 12. Ulm big man Trevion Williams finished with 20 points, 18 of which came in the second half, while Juan Nunez added 17 and Thomas Klepeisz 12 in the defeat.
Game Videos
Ulm had a strong start to the game and led 13-10 just over halfway through the first quarter, but a Brodziansky dunk and a mid-range make by Ante Tomic saw Joventut take its first lead of the night, 13-14. Brodziansky soon moved to 9 points with a jump hook, 13-16, before six straight points by Feliz capped a 12-0 run by the visitors, 13-22. Pacome Dadiet scored a three-pointer and Nunez added three more the old fashion way either side of an Andrew Andrews triple, 19-25, but a Tyler Cook dunk meant it was 19-27 after the first 10 minutes.
Joventut kept rolling in the second quarter, with Pau Ribas knocking down a couple of triples to swell the lead to 21-35. Then, it was the turn of another veteran, Tomic, to keep the Spanish side in a good position, 25-39. When Feliz scored five points in a row, Joventut was up by 18 points, 28-44, with four minutes left before halftime. The lead was as high as 19 points, 30-49, following a Feliz floater, before Joventut took a 32-50 margin into the break.
Yannick Kraag’s dunk with the first score of the second half opened a new game-high lead for Joventut as it went up by 20 points, 32-52. Ulm, however, began to show more fight, with Karim Jallow scoring a couple of layups and Klepeisz draining back-to-back threes to make it a 12-point ballgame, 42-54. However, as was often the case in this game, Feliz appeared to calm things down with a couple of baskets, 42-58. Williams started to make things happen for Ulm, scoring from inside and out to make it a 10-point margin on two occasions: 48-58 and 51-61. Brodziansky’s jump hook and Feliz’s baseline jumper extended the gap, 51-65, but an impressive finish by Dadiet ensured it was 53-65 entering the fourth period.
Ulm simply refused to roll over, despite Feliz doing his best to make things difficult, with Philipp Herkenhoff cutting the gap to 10 points once more, 57-67, after going 2-for-2 from the line. When Pep Busquets completed a four-point play with 7:27 minutes remaining to make it a 15-point difference, 58-73, it seemed as though Joventut was going to coast the rest of the way. But no, the hosts kept charging and trimmed the margin to eight points, 70-78 and 72-80, with just a few minutes to go following scores by Williams and Nunez. It would then be Williams and Nunez who would help Ulm get even closer, 75-83 and 77-83, then 79-84, but Shannon Evans and Cook kept their cool from the line as Joventut came away with a 79-88 triumph.