ratiopharm Ulm stunned Joventut Badalona with a 73-79 victory at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Tuesday night.
Ulm stuns Joventut, 73-79

The visitors used a 0-10 run in the fourth quarter to turn the tables and earn a 63-72 advantage entering crunch time that Joventut could not recover from. This was the first loss all season for Joventut at home and it cost the team dearly, while Ulm advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in club history. Semaj Christon led the visitors with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for a PIR of 31. Jaron Blossomgame also scored 21 points and Sindarius Thornwell and Philipp Herkenhoff netted 12 points each and grabbed 9 and 7 rebounds, respectively. Derek Willis led the way for Joventut against his former team by scoring 17 points. Joel Parra and Pau Ribas followed with 13 and 11 points in the losing effort.
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Willis started red hot with 6 of Joventut’s 8 first points to boost the home team to an early 8-4 lead. Even though Christon made it all square from long range soon after, the hosts found Joel Parra and Ribas to build a 14-8 edge after 6 minutes. Ulm reacted quickly after a timeout with Christon pulling the strings for a 16-16 tie that Karim Jallow converted into a 17-18 for the visitors at the end of the first quarter.
Joventut tightened its defense, holding the visitors scoreless for 3 minutes and Andres Feliz and Brandon Paul took advantage of that to put the home team back in charge, 24-18. A four-point play in which Jallow provided a free throw and Blossomgame nailed a three off an offensive rebound made it 25-24. Parra took over on offense and scored 6 points to keep Joventut calm, 33-26, but a 2-6 run led by Per Guenther allowed Ulm stay in the game, 35-32, at halftime.
Willis opened fire from behind the arc and soon provided a free throw that Ante Tomic followed with a layup and a dish for Parra’s corner three that made it 44-36. Once again, Ulm prevented the hosts from escaping thanks to a triple by Herkenhoff, a three-point play by Blossomgame and a layup by Christon that reset the game at 44-44. Despite Blossomgame pushing Ulm in front, 46-47, Joventut counterattacked with Albert Ventura, Willis and Ribas combining to enter the last stanza ahead 54-51.
Herkenhoff and Ferran Bassas swapped threes to start the quarter. Then Willis took over with 4 points in a row to push the hosts to a 61-56 edge. Christon struck back and led a 0-6 run that sent Ulm in front once again, 61-62, midway through the fourth quarter. Blossomgame nailed a corner three and Herkenhoff completed a three-point play to extend it to 63-68 entering crunch time. The hosts got stuck on offense and allowed another jumper by Christon, who followed with a couple of free throws that built a 63-72 margin with 1 minute to go. Triples by Guillem Vives and Ribas allowed Joventut to dream, but Ulm just needed to secure some more free throws to confirm the outcome.