TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
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ULM BEATS SKYLINERS!
ratiopharm Ulm earned their fourth victory in their last five games with a hardfought 87-82 home win over second place Deutsche Bank Skyliners Thursday afternoon at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm. Center John Bryant powered his way to a 22 point 12 rebound double double while captain Lee Humphrey buried a perfect five of five threes on his way to 20 points in the exciting home win.
ratiopharm Ulm captain Lee Humphrey and teammates are all smiles after their 87-82 home win over Deutsche Bank Skyliners Thursday afternoon at Sportszentrum Kuhberg. Lee hit a perfect five of five from three point range keying the victory.
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Playing their final game of the first half of the 2010-2011 BEKO Basketball Bundesliga season, ratiopharm Ulm entered Thursday's holiday game against the Skyliners with 3 victories in 4 games. Riding momentum from a comeback, overtime road win Sunday in Bremerhaven, ratiopharm Ulm was focused for Thursday's challenge against the second place Skyliners.
ratiopharm Ulm point guard Per Gunther finishes at the rim as Frankfurt's Kimmo Muurinen defends in Thursday's action.
Tipping off, ratiopharm Ulm won the tip and got on the scoreboard first as Robin Benzing curled to the basket for a strong finish. Finnish four man Kimmo Muurinen hit a short corner jumpshot for the Skyliners. Frankfurt took a 4-2 lead before a turnaround jumpshot by John Bryant evened the game. Frankfurt point guard DaShaun Wood floated a beautiful lob pass to a diving Muurinen in a pick and roll giving the Skyliners a 6-4 lead. Muurinen buried a left wing three giving Frankfurt a 9-4 advantage. Continuing their strong early play, Marius Nolte drew a foul in the paint and sank two free throws. After an Ulm miss, Frankfurt ran a fast break resulting in a left wing Jimmy McKinney transition three. Ulm used a timeout at the 6:09 mark of the first quarter trailing 14-4. Out of the timeout, Per Gunther fed a beautiful ballscreen bounce pass to John Bryant who finished for two. Following a strong defensive rebound by John Bryant, Per Gunther attacked the rim in transition for an early offense score. Marius Nolte scored on a dive cut for Frankfurt but Robin Benzing buried a right wing three for Ulm. Frankfurt led 16-11 with 4:50 to play in the first. Rocky Trice tipped in a Per Gunther transition miss and Ulm trailed 16-13.
ratiopharm Ulm wing Sebastian Betz gives extra effort for an offensive rebound drawing a foul Thursday against the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
Nolte finished a dive cut and Frankfurt capitalized on an Ulm turnover with a DaShaun Wood breakaway layup giving the Skyliners a 20-13 advantage. Rocky Trice made a terrific shot block then ran the floor playing give and go with Travis Walton before drawing a foul. Making both one of two free throws, Ulm trailed 20-14 with three minutes in the quarter. John Bryant finished a perfect high low pass from Coleman Collins cutting the deficit to 20-16. The teams exchanged stops before Ulm captain Lee Humphrey hit his first three of the evening, a left corner transition triple cutting the gap to 1, 20-19 with just over 1 minute in the first. Jimmy McKinney matched Lee's three with a right wing trifecta for Frankfurt rebuilding the Skyliners advantage to 23-19. But Sebastian Betz's hardwork was rewarded with two free throws and Ulm trailed 23-21 at the end of one.
ratiopharm Ulm captain Lee Humphrey attacks the basket Thursday against the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
As quarter two began, Ulm earned a defensive stop with a Skyliner 24 second shot clock violation on the first possession. Kimmo Muurinen finished a hook at the rim pushing the Frankfurt lead to 25-21 but Lee Humphrey finished a drive with a step through score cutting the gap to two. Muurinen sank a shot fake one dribble pull up from the foul line for Frankfurt before Roger Powell finished a strong move in the paint pushing the Skyliner lead to 29-23. Lee Humphrey buried a right corner three cutting the margin in half and a Frankfurt turnover returned the ball immediately back to Ulm. John Bryant made a beautiful catch and finish on a pick and roll dive cut and Ulm trailed by one 29-28 with 6 minutes to go in the half. Robin Benzing drew a charge for Ulm and Lee Humphrey was fouled shooting a right corner three earning three free throws with 4:45 on the clock. Lee stepped to the line and made all three foul shots giving Ulm the lead 31-29.
ratiopharm Ulm center John Bryant powers to the basket for two of his 22 point 12 rebound double double Thursday afternoon against the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
DaShaun Wood split the gap down the middle of the Ulm defense and finished at the rim evening the game at 31. At the 3:45 mark, Sean Sonderleiter grabbed a strong offensive rebound and drew a foul. With the bonus, Sean sank both free throws giving Ulm a 33-31 lead. Ulm earned another shot clock violation with a defensive stop. Dominik Bahiense de Mello buried a left corner three reclaiming the lead for Frankfurt 34-33. Coleman Collins drew a foul and made both of his free throw attempts taking back a 35-34 advantage for Ulm with 2:25 remaining in the half. Wood hit a midlane pullup giving the Skyliners a 36-35 lead before Rocky Trice was fouled on a pullup jumper of his own with 1:03 to go. Trice made both foul shots giving Ulm a 37-36 lead. Wood got to the rim and finished once again reclaiming a 38-37 lead for Frankfurt with 50 seconds in the half. Sean Sonderleiter drew a foul with 41 seconds and made both free throws giving Ulm a 39-38 lead. As Wood advanced the ball, Rocky Trice poked loose a steal near halfcourt, collected the loose ball and drove in for the breakaway slam. Ulm led 41-38. On the last play of the first half, Wood sank a tough floater cutting the halftime margin to one, 41-40.
ratiopharm Ulm's Rocky Trice played an important part in the win with 9 points 9 rebounds against the Skyliners.
At the half, Ulm held a one point lead, 41-40. Ulm shot 50% from the field making 3 of 6 threes and 14 of 15 free throws (93%). Ulm outrebounded Frankfurt 17 to 12 in the first twenty minutes as Lee Humphrey led the way with 11 first half points. Frankfurt shot 50% from the floor making 4 of 14 threes (29%) and 2 of 2 free throws. Both teams were focused for a run to take control of the game.
ratiopharm Ulm center John Bryant scores inside between Skyliner defenders.
Opening the second half, Marius Nolte evened the game at 41 but John Bryant hit one of two free throws pushing Ulm ahead 42-41. Bryant sank two free throws to put Ulm up 44-41 at 7:52. John Bryant finished under the rim giving Ulm a 46-41 advantage but back to back baskets from Quantez Robertson cut the Ulm lead to 46-45. Per Gunther hit a jumpshot from and endline inbound play then finished a layup strong in transition to push Ulm to a 50-45 lead with 5 minutes in the third.
Point guards Per Gunther and Frankfurt's DaShaun Wood went head to head in an excellent matchup.
Roger Powell scored for the Skyliners before John Bryant drew a foul earning two free throws. John hit two from the line and Ulm led 52-47 with 4:15 in the third. Per Gunther ran down a loose ball in the corner and was fouled sending him to the free throw line for two shots. Per made both and Ulm led 54-47 with 3:52. Jermaine Bucknor finished a tip dunk for Frankfurt before Per Gunther finished strong in the lane for Ulm. Roger Powell scored for Frankfurt and Ulm led 56-51 with 1:46 left. Robin Benzing tacked on two free throws pushing the lead to 58-51 with 1:35 remaining. Ulm earned another 24 second shot clock violation with 1:11 in the quarter. Coleman Collins scored at the rim with 52 Seconds giving Ulm a 60-51 lead. Ulm closed out the quarter with their 9 point advantage.
ratiopharm Ulm forward Coleman Collins splits defenders for a strong finish in Thursday's game against the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
In the fourth quarter, Roger Powell and Jimmy McKinney buried back to back threes cutting Ulm's lead to three, 60-57 with 9:15 to go. Coleman Collins finished a strong drive before Frankfurt's Roger Powell tip dunked an offensive rebound home. Lee Humphrey buried a left corner three off an endline inbound play and Ulm led 65-59 with 8:15 to play. de Mello drilled a left corner three of his own bringing the Skyliners back to 65-62. Lee Humphrey buried a transition three giving Ulm a 68-62 lead with 7:09 to play. Kimmo Muurinen finished a strong three point play for Frankfurt cutting the gap to 68-65 with 6:49. Rocky Trice scored on a stepthrough move giving Ulm a 70-65 cushion. Roger Powell drove to the rim and for a finger roll pulling the Skyliners back within three at the five minute mark.
ratiopharm Ulm forward Robin Benzing extends for a finger roll finish in Thursday's game against the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
John Bryant scored an important basket on a power move from the left block with 4:19 to go. Powell scored an easy basket for the Skyliners on a dive cut at the 4 minute mark. But Ulm captain Lee Humphrey stepped up to drill a deep three from the right wing giving Ulm a 75-69 lead with 3:30 to play. DaShaun Wood got into the lane and scored at the rim for Frankfurt trimming the margin to 75-71. Ulm came up empty but recorded a strong defensive stop with 2:35 to go. Robin Benzing hit another big shot for Ulm sinking a clutch right wing three pushing Ulm's lead to 78-71 with 2:15. Ulm's defense got another big stop as Rocky Trice ripped down the strong defensive board leading to a John Bryant offensive rebound put-back basket lifting Ulm to an 80-71 advantage with 1:38 remaining. Frankfurt used their last timeout.
ratiopharm Ulm post man Sean Sonderleiter powers to the basket drawing a foul as Marius Nolte defends in Thursday's game.
Out of the timeout, Roger Powell buried a flare screen three for Frankfurt trimming the score to 80-74. Ulm milked the clock before Lee Humphrey slipped a perfect pass to John Bryant for an important layup giving Ulm an 82-74 lead with 1:10 to play. Jimmy McKinney sank a corner three and was fouled but missed the free throw. Ulm led 82-77 with under one minute left. Per Gunther drew a foul and converted one of two free throws giving Ulm an 83-77 advantage with 52 seconds. As Frankfurt attacked, Lee Humphrey came up with a steal and Per Gunther was fouled. Forced to foul, Frankfurt fouled Rocky Trice before Ulm used a timeout. Diagramming their set for safety, Ulm inbounded the ball to big man John Bryant who was fouled with 34 seconds. Bryant made his first but missed his second free throw. Frankfurt raced up the floor and Jimmy McKinney buried the big three.
ratiopharm Ulm guard Rocky Trice rips down an important defensive rebound in the fourth quarter of Thursday's home win over the Deutsche Bank Skyliners.
Fouling with 25 seconds, Travis Walton stepped to the line as Ulm held an 84-80 lead. Travis sank one of two shots before DaShaun Wood went coast to coast for a basket. The game was 85-82 as Ulm used a timeout to advance the ball with 17.8 seconds left. Inbounding the ball to point guard Per Gunther, Frankfurt fouled immediately. Per cooly put the finishing touches on Ulm's win making the two foul shots. At the final buzzer, ratiopharm Ulm celebrated their hardfought 87-82 home win.
ratiopharm Ulm captain Lee Humphrey reads the defense during Thursday's home win over Frankfurt.
As ratiopharm Ulm reached the midpoint of the season, the 87-82 home win over Frankfurt lifted Ulm's record to 8-9. With victories in four of their last five games, ratiopharm Ulm improved to 6-2 at home for the 2010-2011 season.
ratiopharm Ulm was led by center John Bryant's 22 point 12 rebound double double and 20 points from captain Lee Humphrey who hit a perfect 5 for 5 from three point range in the win. Per Gunther added 13 points and Robin Benzing 10 for ratiopharm Ulm. Rocky Trice finished with 9 points 9 rebounds for Ulm. As a team, ratiopharm Ulm shot 51% from the floor making 7 of 14 threes and 28 of 33 from the foul line (85%) while outrebounding Frankfurt 39-28. Frankfurt was led by 18 points from Roger Powell, 15 points from Jimmy McKinney and 14 points apiece from DaShaun Wood and Kimmo Muurinen. The Skyliners shot 47% from the field including 10 for 34 from three (29%) and 4 for 6 from the foul line.
ratiopharm Ulm looks ahead to another challenging home game Sunday at 4pm when they host reigning Bundesliga champions brose Baskets Bamberg . Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga Basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
