Ratiopharm Ulm (6-5) followed up their blowout road win over Buducnost Voli Podgorica last time out with another impressive performance against Virtus Segafredo Bologna (6-4) which resulted in a comfortable 84-68 (22-15, 23-19, 18-17, 21-17) victory.
Player of the Game | |
EFF
26
|
|
Jaron Blossomgame | |
Points | 20 |
Accuracy | 7-15 |
Rebounds | 11 |
Assists | 2 |
That was Ulm's 119th EuroCup win, which move them into a tie for 10th all-time in EuroCup history. The Germans erased their 11-point (76-87) defeat in the first round to Virtus, taking the upper hand in Group B in case of a tie.
Jaron Blossomgame led all scorers with 20 on 7/15 from the field, whilst adding 11 rebounds and 2 assists for a PIR of 26. Semaj Christon and Thomas Klapeisz followed with 14 and 12 points respectively for the winners.
Virtus, who were trailing all along, turned up in Ulm short-handed, missing guards Milos Teodosic, Nico Mannion and forward Kevin Hervey. Amedeo Tessitori and Kyle Weems shipped in 14 points apiece, while Marco Belinelli went for 13 but was on a bad shooting night, going 5/17 from the field.
The German side got a double-digit lead early in the game (12-2 after five minutes) that paved the way to their easy win.
The team coached by Jaka Lakovic's assistant, Tyron McCoy, dominated the offensive boards, grabbing 8 in the first half.
Amedeo Tessitori and Marco Belinelli combined for 17 points over that span, but Scariolo's team was turning the ball over quite frequently to be able to pose a threat to Ulm who closed the first 20 minutes up by 11 (45-34).
A quick partial score of 2-8 at the beginning of the third quarter put the Italians back in contention (47-42). Ulm responded instantly, restoring their edge to its previous status behind an array of offensive rebounds (another 6 in the third quarter alone) and despite repeatedly misfiring from behind the three-point arc.
Blossomgame excelled on both rebounds and scoring, carrying the hosts to their biggest lead in the game (63-48).
Tessitori and Cordiniermade it 63-53, making one think that Virtus had still some gas in the tank. However, the Italian champs scored only one basket in the next six minutes, allowing Ulm to reach one of their easiest EuroCup wins this season.
Ratiopharm Ulm: Jaron Blossomgame 20 (7/15 FG, 5/5 FT, 11 REB, 2 AST, 26 PIR), Semaj Christon 14 (7/16 FG, 7 AST), Thomas Klapeisz 12 (5/6 FG, 3 REB), Sindarius Thornwell 10 (9 REB, 5 REB, 4 ST), Cristiano Felicio 9 (4/7 FG, 1/1 FT, 13 REB).
Virtus Bologna: Amedeo Tessitori 14 (6/9 FG, 1/1 FT), Kyle Weems 14 (6/14 FG, 1/2 FT, 6 REB, 3 ST), Marco Belinelli 13 (5/17 FG, 3 REB, 4 AST, 2 ST), Amar Alibegovic 8.
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