Cedevita outlasts Ulm in offensive showdown

In a high-scoring game that saw many lead changes, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana celebrated a road win by defeating ratiopharm Ulm 96-104 at ratiopharm Arena on Wednesday night.

Regular Season

Round 13 of 18

game Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana vs ratiopharm Ulm

Regular Season

group b

ratiopharm UlmULM

96104

Cedevita Olimpija LjubljanaCOL

group b

Overview

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Despite enjoying a 78-85 lead halfway through the last period, Cedevita needed to wait till crunch time to secure the outcome when Zoran Dragic punished his former team with back-to-back three-pointers. Cedevita overcome the 100-point border for the second consecutive game and third time this season to improve to 5-7, while Ulm dropped to 6-7 as its three-game winning streak came to an end. Dragic led the winners with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for a PIR of 25 and Melvin Ejim posted 20 points and 8 boards. They both found great help from Jaka Blazic, Edo Muric, Zach Auguste and Yogi Ferrell, who contributed 15, 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jaron Blossomgame led the way for Ulm with a career-high 29 points plus 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals to reach his personal best of 39 PIR. Semaj Christon also recorded best marks in points (28), and PIR (29). Philipp Herkenhoff added 13 points and Sindarius Thornwell had 12 in defeat.

Both teams took the court red hot in offense, but the visitors were the ones who displayed a better performance thanks to Dragic, who scored 8 of Cedevita’s first 15 points to put his team up 10-15. Blazic and Alen Omic joined in later to help the visitors climb ahead 14-20, right before the three-point rain from Ulm started. Blossomgame showed up first and hit twice from downtown and Christon and Thornwell followed to put Ulm in charge, 26-25. The hosts extended it to 30-25 behind consecutive buckets by Blossongame and Christon, and even though Cedevita tried to hold on from the line, Ulm led 34-28 after 10 minutes.

Jacob Pullen and Zach Auguste combined for 7 points once the game resumed to make it 36-35. Despite missing shots, Ulm kept finding points to prevent Cedevita from completing the comeback. Blossomgame, Christon, Nicolas Bretzel and Per Guenther took turns on offense to lead 44-37 midway through the second quarter. Ejim took over then, going for 9 points in a row, including a triple, that squared things at 46-46. The answer came in a blink of an eye, as Blossongame came up big to cap a perfect first half. First he flew high with a put-back slam and then added a long three to put Ulm up to 51-46. He later contributed an inside bucket to allow the hosts to head to the locker rooms leading 55-50.

Cedevita needed less than 2 minutes after the intermission to get back in charge, 55-56, behind back-to-back three-pointers by Edo Muric. The joy didn’t last for long for the visitors, though, as Christon netted a mid-range jumper and Herkenhoff contributed a three to switch the lead to Ulm’s hands once again, 60-56. Ferrell and Christon swapped three-point plays before Dragic reduced the margin to 63-61 with a fastbreak layup. Cedevita kept pushing with Ejim, who provided 6 points in just two offenses to turn the tables again, 65-67. Free throws by Dragic and Blazic, plus a late three by Pullen helped the visitors enter the last quarter leading 70-73.

Blazic opened fire after the break to extend the difference to 70-76. Ulm fired back, chaining together a couple of three-point plays that brought the home team within 78-79, but Cedevita didn’t tremble. Ferrell took over to score a tough layup first and then assist Muric to cap a 0-6 spark that carried the visitors to a safe place at 78-85. Despite Christon’s effort on offense, Ulm could not get closer until Blossomgame and Thornwell joined in to increase firepower. A technical foul called on Cedevita’s bench trimmed it to 89-90 with 4 minutes remaining but that was the closest Ulm could get. Blazic and Ferrell fueled the visitors first and opened the door for back-to-back three-pointers by Dragic that set an insurmountable 94-100 advantage entering the final minute.