Jena Tips Ulm from Cup 76-74!!
Recently signed point guard Alvin Cruz tipped in a missed three point shot with 0.3 second remaing helping Jena take a 76-74 German Cup win over ratiopharm Ulm at Sportszentrum Kuhberg. With the Cup victory, Jena advances to meet a Bundesliga team in the next round of the German Cup later this month while Ulm is eliminated from the competition. The loss spoiled a pair of brilliant buzzer-beating shots from Ulm guard Jonathan Levy and was impacted by the loss of powerful Jeff Gibbs who fouled out with over 7 minutes to play on a Technical foul. A competitive, balanced game that came down to the final seconds, basketball fans can look forward to two more action-packed meetings between these two strong teams upcoming later this season. This German Cup result means round one went to Jena --- Round two is a 2.Bundesliga South regular season game at Sportszentrum Kuhberg December 16th. ratiopharm Ulm will take the positives from the evening and learn from the loss.
Ulm huddles center court after the Cup loss to Jena. Mike T and his men will take the positives from the evening and learn from the loss to bounce back as a better team.
One aspect of the game very important to the visiting Jena team was the integration of newly signed point guard Alvin Cruz who is replacing injured guard Austen Rowland for several months this season. Jena Head Coach Frank Menz opted to insert Cruz into the starting lineup against Ulm. Opening play, both teams concentrated on establishing strong defenses and making their opponent work for scores. Jena immediately went inside to big man Lars Buss and allowed creative scoring guard Ronnie Taylor to make plays. Ulm offense had several easy looks early but came up empty. Strong Jena defense challenged Ulm execution. Maksym Shtein and Jonathan Levy made plays to get the offense going. Ulm guard Christian Grosse weaved down the right lane line penetrating to make a play and found Emeka Erege open in the right corner --- the Ulm captain came through sinking the last second three giving Ulm a slim 19-16 advantage after one quarter of play.
After one even quarter, the game continued to progress possession by possession. Ulm power forward Jeff Gibbs showed a flash of brilliance during the mid second quarter slicing through the Jena paint for a score and pinning a shot off the backboard for a monster block on the other end. Both teams fought hard defensively. Jena guard Ronnie Taylor began to heat up hitting several tough contested pull up jumpshots. 35-35, in the last possession of the first half, Jonathan Levy elevated from the right wing and hit a big three sending Ulm in the halftime lockerroom up three 38-35.
1 on 1 matchup: Jena's Ronnie Taylor and Ulm's Jonathan Levy were playmakers in the Cup game. Both guards came up with big baskets for their teams.
At the half, Ulm had held Jena to 40% floor shooting while hitting 47%. Jonathan Levy and Maksym Shtein registered 11 points apiece in the first half, but the Ulm offense seemed slow and sluggish with too much standing around. Ulm discussed their tempo and execution against the Jena post double teaming. Surprisingly, the intensity level was somewhat medium from both teams in the first half. As expected, things would change in the second.
As play began in the second half, Ulm and Jena continued their excellent defensive performances. Both teams worked hard to stop their opponent and play began to pick up. Every possession became important. Ulm edged ahead in the third stretching their lead to 55-49 after three.
Early in the fourth quarter, Jena responded with an 8-2 run to pull even at 57. Then, with 7 minutes 30 seconds remaining to play, Jeff Gibbs screened Jena's Mischa Zlotowski at the top of the key. Suddenly, the Jena forward went flying backwards landing hard on his right chest and face. Officials whistled Gibbs for his fourth foul. But it did not stop there. Conversation between the official and forward continued as players from both teams walked through the middle of the court changing ends of the floor during the deadball timeout. On his way to report the foul, the official had some words for Jeff. Although Gibbs answered right back, the official got the final answer hitting Jeff with a technical foul. Crunchtime in this tight German Cup game, Gibbs had just fouled out by picking up a T from the referee. Whistles, boos and yells came from all corners of Sportszentrum Kuhberg as Jena shot their two technical free throws and inbounded the ball. Although Ulm defense toughened up and got a stop, Ronnie Taylor jumped Emeka Erege's cross court outlet to register a suprising steal and score. Then sloppy on the inbound play, Ulm nearly lost the ball again as Alvin Cruz ran up on the point on the other side of the floor. Looking to settle the team down, Mike T called for time and sat his guys down. Working to weather the storm, Ulm focused on their defensive possessions and aimed to pick up the tempo in transition.
Recently signed Jena point guard Alvin Cruz (10), defended by Ulm's Christian Grosse (7), made several big shots down the stretch --- none bigger than his last second running tip in to win the game.
The 7-0 run put Jena ahead 64-57 and had Ulm on their heels. The shock of losing Gibbs to such a situation startled the team for a second but they recovered quickly after regaining composure in the timeout. Ulm had plenty of time to eliminate the deficit by playing every possession. Soon, their efforts paid off. Maksym Shtein scored a running bank shot off the glass and crossed over Jena big man Oliver Braun for a driving layup. Ulmer D got stops. Out of nowhere the officials hit Jena big man Lars Buss with a technical for kicking the basketball or hanging on the rim (not clear which). Christian Grosse sank the two technical foul shots and Emeka Erege scored on a strong power move inside for an Ulm 5 point mini-run cutting the lead to one. At the other end, Jena's Ronnie Taylor stuck a tough pullup J. Ulm's comeback drew closer.
But it took a second buzzer beater to be complete. Trailing 71-68, Ulm's Christian Grosse faced strong defensive pressure from Jena's Alvin Cruz. The young Ulm guard tried to hold off the ball pressure and get into the offense, but Cruz tipped the ball twiced disrupting Christian's dribble and flow. Finally, with the shot clock ticking down, Cruz tipped the ball away from Grosse forcing the roll all the way back to halfcourt and into the hands of Mike T in the opposite coaching box. 3 seconds on the shot clock -- and during crunch time in the game --- Ulm needed a big play. Running a variation of a sideline inbound play, Ulm's Jonathan Levy looped around a stack and popped to the top of the key to take Erege's inbound pass. The LA native did his best Kobe Bryant impression, angling to his right driving hard on the defense. Elevating over the Jena defenders from beyond the arc on the right wing, Levy got a good look at the rim --- and buried it to tie the game as the shot clock buzzer went off. 71-71, the midweek Ulm crowd was on their feet and energizing their team!
Ulm captain Emeka Erege was outstanding defensively holding high scoring Jena wing Alex Seggelke to 5 points. Here, Erege works for position on Jena's Ronnie Taylor late in the second half.
Quieting the crowd, Ronnie Taylor drilled a critical trey to put the guests back up three at 74-71. But a slashing Levy drive finished through a foul gave Ulm another chance to tie with just over one minute remaining. Levy sank the free throw and the score was knotted at 74. As Jena advanced the ball, the clock ran under one minute. Ulm defended the double-high ballscreen action well and kept their opponent on the perimeter. Jena's Taylor tried another three from the right wing but the ball sailed long, bouncing high off the back of the rim into the left corner. Jena forward Gregor Linke ran it down for the extra possession giving the road team one more chance. Ulm defense dug in again as the clock continued to tick down. Again strong Ulm defense forced a tough shot that was gang rebounded by hustling Ulm players. Showing almost 40 seconds on the clock, in a 74-74 ballgame, Ulm advanced the ball calling their play for the big possession. Executing well, Grosse hit Mobius at the top who then fed Maksym Shtein on the left block for a designed high low action. Cutting off the post touch was covered until Jonathan Levy broke free. Shtein sealed and handed the ball off the Levy who cut into the left corner to receive the ball. Well defended by Jena, Levy slashed baseline sliding to the middle of the floor against rotating big men. Levy's left handed twister softly hit the front of the rim and fell out.
Jena and Ulm players relentlessly hustled for the rebound. Unfortunately, last to touch the loose ball along the baseline was Ulm forward Florian Mobius: Jena ball, fullcourt inbound, 18 seconds, 74-74 score. Needing to lock down for one possession, Ulm matched up and dug in. Jena's Ronnie Taylor cautiously moved the ballup floor against Jonathan Levy. As the clock ticked down, he pulled a potential game winning three......off hard and long, Jena players crashed the boards looking for an offensive rebound as Ulm defenders worked to hold off the wave. Out of no where, point guard Alvin Cruz snuck behind the Ulm defenders and tipped in the miss off the backboard stunning Ulm with 0.3 seconds to play.
Jonathan Levy continued his outstanding play hitting several big shots for Ulm on his way to a game best 26 point 8 rebound performance.
Calling an immediate timeout, Ulm huddled for their desperation attempt. Moving the ball to halfcourt for their final play, Ulm executed well getting two players open for the catch and shoot situation. Unfortunately, after hitting two buzzer beaters earlier in the evening, Jonathan Levy was out of tricks. His turnaround three fell short and Jena earned a hardfought 76-74 German Cup win.
Jena will now meet a Bundesliga team December 12th in the next round of the German Cup while ratiopharm Ulm is eliminated from the competition. Ulm will now put their complete focus on the 2.Bundesliga South league schedule where they remain unbeaten at 7-0. The Jena win also snaps a 21 game home winning streak for ratiopharm Ulm at Sportszentrum Kuhberg.
In an extremely even basketball game, Ulm shot 44% (28-63) from the floor and 79% (11-14) from the line while Jena hit 43% (28-65) and 83% (10-12) respectively. Ulm outrebounded Jena 36-29 and both teams distributed 11 assists.
Jonathan Levy topscored with 26 points and 8 rebounds for Ulm while Maksym Shtein and Emeka Erege added 15 points apiece in the loss. Ronnie Taylor finished his strong night with 19 points, 7 assists and 5 boards while Alvin Cruz added 16 points, the game winning tip-in and a couple big shots for his new team down the stretch. Lars Buss also played well in the paint scoring 14 points while Oliver Braun added 10 rebounds.
Ulm looks to take the lessons learned from the Cup loss and bounce back a better team. The team will also keep their eyes on a tendon injury in Jonathan Levy's right pinky finger which will be examined by team medical staff Thursday morning.
ratiopharm Ulm returns to action Saturday when erdgas Baskets Ehingen enter Sportszentrum Kuhberg for a 7pm 2.Bundesliga South tip. A local rival from 20 kilometers nearby, Ehingen and Ulm have a history over the last several seasons and this weekends game will feature some extremely interesting story lines of its own. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com
GO ULM!
MIKE T
