


ratiopharm Ulm bounced back from its home loss against Prometey Slobozhanske by defeating the visiting Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 97-85 at ratiopharm arena on Wednesday evening. A 13-0 run early in the second period allowed Ulm to escape with a 53-41 lead at halftime, and even though Cedevita got within 55-53 early in the third, another great offensive display from the hosts boosted it to a solid margin that the visitors could never overturn. Ulm improved to 9-7 to remain in the fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs, while already-eliminated Cedevita dropped to 3-13.
Bruno Caboclo led all scorers with 26 points in as many minutes, plus he added 5 boards and 2 assists. Fedor Zugic followed with a season-high 21 points, going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, while Yago Dos Santos poured in 12, and Joshua Hawley and Thomas Kelepeisz provided 10 apiece. Juan Nunez excelled in rebounding, pulling down 10 boards and also dishing 6 assists. Zoran Dragic paced Cedevita with 24 points, Yogi Ferrell contributed 18 and Alen Omic produced 13 in the losing effort.
Dragic sustained the guests in the early going, scoring the first 7 points for Cedevita, but Ulm found a timely response from the Brazilian duo of Caboclo and Dos Santos, who combined for 13 points to establish a 13-10 home lead after four minutes. The hosts used the three-point line to keep a high-scoring pace. Even though Dragic did his best with another 7 points, Ulm reached the end of the first period leading 30-26.
Cedevita tried to react from behind the arc but missed its first 5 three-point attempts in the second quarter, as Ulm chained together 3 three-point plays that made it a double-digit advantage, 39-28. Zugic soon extended the run to 13-0, which helped Ulm make it a 43-28 score and put Cedevita on the ropes. The guest went to the experienced Omic, who provided 7 points and 1 assist to get his team within 46-39 after 18 minutes. Ulm had lost its offensive momentum but survived from the free-throw line, then Hawley showed up with a reverse layup that Klepeisz followed with a contested buzzer-beating shot to return a safe margin for the hosts, 53-41, at halftime.
Ferrell opened fire from deep when the game resumed, but that was the only bucket Cedevita got in the first three minutes. Ulm wasn’t better, though, as only Karim Jallow scored in that span. The trend was broken by a layup by Rok Radovic that sparked a 0-7 run capped by a trey from Dragic that trimmed the difference to 55-51. Ulm’s timeout couldn’t prevent Ferrell from making it a one-possession game midway through the third period, but Dos Santos and Caboclo came to the rescue again to pace Ulm, restoring a 63-55 edge. A three-pointer by Dragic seemed to get Cedevita back on track, but 7 consecutive free throws by Ulm, 1 of them coming from a technical foul called on the visiting side’s bench, allowed the home team to enter the last stanza with a dominant advantage, 72-61.
Cedevita improved on offense and found a steady scoring rhythm, but it couldn’t stop Zugic on the other end, so Ulm increased the margin to 84-70 with seven minutes remaining. Caboclo and Ferrell took the reins on each side and swapped baskets, which led to a 93-83 score entering crunch time. Zugic scored twice from the line to keep Ulm safe, and even though Adams quickly answered from the same place, the visitors were unable to add any more points in the last two minutes, allowing the hosts to celebrate.