TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
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ULM OVERCOMES JENA!
ratiopharm Ulm overcame a roadblock on the autobahn Sunday afternoon on the way to east Germany and then overcame an intense Science City Jena effort in a physical, hardfought 68-65 road win Sunday at the 'Tent' in Jena. At home amongst the contact in the lane, Ulm's All Star power forward Jeff Gibbs scored 13 points with 9 rebounds and recently added Romeo Travis added 13 points and 5 boards helping Ulm earn the win. An important victory for playoff hopes, Ulm upped their record to 14-15 after splitting the weekends action.
ratiopharm Ulm All star forward Konrad Wysocki goes strong to the basket as Jena's Mark Davis defends. Konrad scored 10 points with 5 rebounds in Sundays hardfought win.
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With the Bundesliga season in the heat of its stretch run, races for the playoffs and relegation give teams at all levels of the standings alot to play for. After Friday's Game Day 27, Sunday's Game Day 28 brought the next storylines to life. For ratiopharm Ulm, Friday nights home loss to Eisbaren Bremerhaven raised the pressure on Sundays road game at Jena. In the five team fight for the final playoff place, Bremerhaven clearly took the upper hand with their win in Ulm. However, with 6 games remaining, opportunity for ratiopharm Ulm to make something positive happened started Sunday in Jena. Meanwhile, on the other end of the court, the hosts from Science City Jena desperately needed a win. Coming off a Thursday night road loss in Koln, Jena tipped off Sundays game at 4-23 and saw the door to the Bundesliga 2008-2009 closing quickly.
Foto: Andreas Knollmann
Ulm's EJ Gallup pressures Jena's Brandon Plavich as part of a first half full court press.
Understanding the importance of the game, Ulm set off on their double-decker BayernReisen team bus early Sunday morning with the normal trip itinerary planned. A beautiful spring day in Germany, the road trip went according to plan for the first hours. Then, just after entering the German state of Thuringen, a tragic 35 car automobile accident brought the autobahn to a complete stop. German police shut down the highway for 2 hours and emergency vehicles and lifeflight helicopters arrived quickly. Stuck in the traffic jam, Ulm would likely arrive late for the game. Thankfully,after a delay of 90 minutes, the German Police allowed the Ulm team bus to backup toward the closest exit allowing the team to take an alternate route using backroads that reconnected with the Autobahn further toward Jena. The delay forced Ulm to skip their routine travel stop and usual pre-game meal. Instead, the team pulled into a McDonalds and got some Big Macs to go. Certainly not the perfect pre-game meal, Ulm was forced to make the best of their situation and the team responded well.
Foto: Andreas Knollmann
Ulm's Jeff Gibbs challenges Jena's Jason Miller in Sundays action.
After finally entering the city, Ulm's bus pulled up to a traffic light near the Jena 2.Bundesliga soccer team's home field. With a Sunday afternoon game just ending, fans mingled at the bus stop near the Ulm bus. At first glance, decked out in Jena scarfs, jackets and hats, seemed enthusiastic. But on second look, one fans 'mooned' the Ulm team. Not a pleasant sight, the Jena fans backside was the next in a string of unusual experiences on Ulm's east German road trip.
Arriving at the make-shift Jena 'Tent' just after 430pm German time, Ulm was nearly on time. A big assist to the team Bus Driver Uwe and his partner. Working with speed and efficiency, Ulm physio Andi Lacher quickly taped ankles and prepared players in a short amount of time. By 515pm Ulm's game-day was completely back on schedule as the team met for pre-game.
Despite the unusual circumstances surrounding the road trip, ratiopharm Ulm started the game strong. Sean Finn scored off the glass on an opening possession and Ulm opened with a 4-0 lead. Establishing themselves in the game well, Ulm was solid defensively and executed well on offense. Jena struck back taking a 5-4 lead on Gregor Linke's top of the key three over a contesting Jeff Gibbs. But Ulm stepped up their team defense and limited Jena to 12 points in the first quarter. Creating offense from their defense, Ulm pushed the tempo and built a lead. After one quarter, Ulm held a 20-12 advantage and could take pride in their strong start.
Jena responded starting the second quarter. Making a run, the hosts rallied and took the lead on a Jason Miller basket at 26-25. Several turnovers hurt Ulm's attack and the aggressive Jena defense capitalized on their momentum. Playing extremely physical, Jena fought back with tough defense in the paint. Jena defense packed the paint and thrived as officials allowed contact at both ends of the floor. Ulm post players combined to shoot 4 for 15 in the paint in the first half. Jena also outrebounded Ulm 22-20 in the first half. Through hardwork and teamwork, Ulm maintained a 35-34 lead at halftime despite their 30% floor shooting.
Foto: Andreas Knollmann
Ulm's Konrad Wysocki defends Jena's Mark Davis one on one in the second half of Sundays action at the 'Tent' in Jena.
In the halftime lockerroom, Ulm focused on maintaining their composure in the heat of the physical action, made offensive adjustments against the physical Jena defense and reinforced their defensive game plan. Taking confidence in the fact they led despite shooting 30%, Ulm returned to the floor for warmups to the positive word that both Braunschweig and Ludwigsburg had lost. In the race for the final playoff spot, a strong second half and important road win would be a big boost to the Ulm team.
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But it was Jena who had the better of play early in the second half. Ulm fell behind 43-39 in the opening moments of the third quarter. Looking for a spark, Ulm turned to their small lineup and immediately went on a 13-0 run. Point guard Dru Joyce finished a layup, Konrad Wysocki scored inside and Romeo Travis got to the foul line. The Ulm run gave them the lead. Turnovers hurt the Jena attack and Ulm got a breakout basket from Jeff Gibbs and among other transition opportunities. Sebastian Betz brought tremendous effort from the Ulm bench and made a fantastic block of Jena's Mark Davis on a breakaway layup. Desperately working back, Jena trimmed the margin toward the end of the third, but Ulm's 19-11 quarter built a 54-45 lead heading into the fourth.
ratiopharm Ulm team defense tightened in the fourth. Offensively, the small lineup provided excellent options. Joyce found Travis cutting baseline for a lob layin. Then Joyce found Gibbs diving to the rim for a dunk. For Jena, Ali Seggelke finished a strong driving AND1 three point play and Ajmal Basit scored in the lane. Jena stormed back and cut the lead. Ulm held a 4 point lead with 2 minutes to play. Ulm players converted only 2 of 4 free throws in the closing minutes giving Jena hope. But after both Jena big men Jason Miller and Ajmal Basit fouled out, Ulm attacked the Jena interior. On a critical possession, Ulm isolated Romeo Travis on the block against Jena's young post man Freidrich Lennartz. Romeo went to work and scored on a beautiful turnaround jumper giving Ulm a three point lead. The big basket gave Ulm a cushion they would need. After Ulm earned a defensive stop, Dru Joyce attacked in transition and called a play with time for two possessions remaining. Ulm milked the clock and executed. Jena defended well and Ulm came up empty. Jena had the ball with 12 seconds to play. In a rush, Jena pushed the ball up court and fired a pass to Lennartz who lost the ball out of bounds in the corner. Ulm called time with 4 seconds to play. Designing their halfcourt inbound play, Ulm spread the floor and Jeff Gibbs found a cutting Konrad Wysocki. The Jena scorers table did not start the clock right away and Wysocki dribbled away from chasing defenders into the Ulm backcourt, up the sideline in front of the Ulm bench and across halfcourt before he threw the ball long toward the basket as the buzzer went off. Ulm had overcome a roadblock,a full moon and a physical challenge for the important 68-65 road win.
Ulm's Dru Joyce sets the offense as Jena's Lavelle Felton defends.
Ulm shot 33% from the floor for the game, made 7 of 27 threes and sank 17 of 23 from the foul line (73%). Ulm also outrebounded Jena 41-40 and suffered only 11 turnovers in the win. Jeff Gibbs led Ulm with 13 points 9 rebounds while Romeo Travis added 13 points 5 boards. Konrad Wysocki totaled 10 points 5 rebounds and Dru Joyce finished with 9 points 8 assists. Jason Miller led Jena with 15 points 5 rebounds while Ali Seggelke added 15 points 4 boards. Jena hit 36% of their shots, 5 of 24 from three and made 20 of 23 from the foul line (86%).
Ulm now focuses on an important home game against Ewe Baskets Oldenburg at Sportszentrum Kuhberg Saturday night April 12th. Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga Basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
