Ulm Celebrates with Win!
ratiopharm Ulm put the finishing touches on a special season celebrating a 91-83 win over 1FC Kaiserslautern before a sold out Sportszentrum Kuhberg Saturday night in Ulm. With Bundesliga representatives presenting Ulm with their championship banner and a pre-game appearance from Ulm Mayor Ivo Gonner, excitement filled the gym before the game. Exciting action also filled the 40 minutes of game time as Ulm's Jonathan Levy topscored with 23 points including 5 three pointers while teammate Jeff Gibbs secured his second straight 2.Bundesliga South rebounding title with an amazing 17 point 21 rebound effort. Captain Emeka Erege was solid scoring 14 points with 8 rebounds while Konrad Wysocki contributed 12 points 7 rebounds and Maksym Shtein added 12 points 5 boards. The season-ending victory at Sportszentrum Kuhberg completed Ulm's championship year with a 29-1 record --- tying Ludwigsburg for the best record in 2.Bundesliga South history --- and kept Ulm unbeaten in league play at Kuhberg for two seasons, a 30-0 home mark. After the game, Ulm players, staff and management celebrated their tremendous season with fans at an open air party just outside Sportszentrum Kuhberg. Taking team pictures, cutting down the net and having fun, ratiopharm Ulm celebrated their season Saturday night!
ratiopharm Ulm celebrates their championship!
Click here for Ulm v Kaiserslautern/Championship Party photo gallery!
MALLORCA TRIP!
click here for details of ratiopharm Ulm's post season adventure!
Saturday April 29, 2006 7:30pm
VS 
ratiopharm Ulm capped their championship season with a 91-83 victory over 1FC Kaiserslautern Saturday night at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm. Celebrating the league best 29-1 mark, a two year unbeaten streak at home, the record-setting 23-0 start to the season and most important the "Aufstieg" into the German Bundesliga, ratiopharm Ulm enjoyed a special night on and off the floor.
Ulm Mayor Ivo Gonner cheers on the team before the game.
Pre-game ceremonies marked the special event as Bundesliga representatives presented Ulm with their 2.Bundesliga South championship banner. German TV Premiere filmed a short feature on Ulm basketball and the season focusing on power forward Jeff Gibbs. Ulm Burgermeister (Mayor) Ivo Gonner made a special appearance to support the Ulm team and enjoy the historic evening. These unique activities combined with the anticipation of the game itself provided a sold out Sportszentrum Kuhberg crowd with plenty of energy and emotion for the final game of the 2005-2006 season.
Captain Emeka Erege finished his outstanding season with 14 points 8 rebounds against Kaiserslautern.
Head Coach Stephan Seile's Kaiserslatuern Red Devils went through layup lines with 6 healthy players. Limited by injuries, Kaiserslautern tipped off without starting small forward Michael Skender and starting center Stuart Robbins. A 4th place finisher last season, Kaiserslautern should be applauded for their resiliency through injury and adversity this year to repeat at 4th in the final standings. Certainly, Coach Seile could be proud of his teams effort in Saturday's season finale in Ulm.
Jeff Gibbs was relentless on the boards ripping down 21 rebounds to secure his second straight 2.Bundesliga South rebounding title!
Energized by the emotion, Ulm exploded to a fast start taking an early lead. Jonathan Levy buried 4 first half threes and slammed home a terrific alley oop lob over the top of the defense to spark Ulm. A Kaiserslautern run late in the first quarter momentarily gave the guests the lead, but Ulm eventually recovered to finish the quarter up one 23-22.
600 POINT MAN: Jono tallied 23 points to eclipse the 600 point plateau for the season.
With only 6 players, the Red Devils attempted to slow the tempo. Meanwhile, ratiopharm Ulm hoped to run. During the first quarter, Ulm players coasted in transition and failed to capitalize on open court opportunities. The slower pace played right into Kaiserslautern's hands. Quater two was much improved for Ulm. Jan Sprunken drilled a deep corner three. Emeka Erege finished two transition layups after sprinting his lanes hard. Konrad Wysocki effectively worked the middle against the Red Devil zone. Running the floor, moving the ball in the halfcourt, improving activity without the ball, Ulm found a rhythm and outscored Kaiserslautern 28-17 in the second quarter to take a 51-39 lead into the halftime lockerroom.
Bundesliga represenatitves presented Ulm Management Andreas Oettel and Thomas Stoll with the 2005-2006 2.Bundesliga South championship banner.
At the half, Ulm felt good about their situation. Levy showed up strong burying 4 of 6 threes for 16 1st half points. Emeka Erege added 9 point 7 rebounds in the first half. Hot shooting helped as Ulm hit 51% from the floor including 55% (6 for 11) from three. Ulm also outrebounded the Red Devils 26-13 in the first twenty minutes while limiting Kaiserslautern to 37% shooting and 4 of 17 (24%) from three. Returning to the floor for the final twenty minutes of the half, Ulm was focused to play for each other and finish the game strong.
Opening the second half, Ulm went about their business. Jeff Gibbs worked relentlessly rebounding on both ends. Outscoring Kaiserslautern 21-15 in quarter three, Ulm fans were ready to celebrate. The solid third quarter of play pushed Ulm ahead further to an 18 point lead going into 4th 72-54.
Unfortunately, Ulm's bench went through a dry spell missing several open shots and suffering turnovers. In the second half, Ulm hit only 3 of 15 three point attempts. Kaiserslautern capitalized on Ulm's momentary lack of focus and came back. After several easy baskets off Ulm turnovers and a couple of clutch threes, the 18 point Ulm lead was drastically reduced to 76-69 with 5 minutes to play. An immediate Ulm timeout refocused the team. The starting 5 re-entered the game. A powerful Jeff Gibbs layup in traffic ignited the team. A Maksym Shtein three pointer kept the momentum up. Kaiserslautern never quit as David Arigbabu and Tim Schwartz made plays to keep the game close. But in the end, Ulm was able to coast to their 29th win, 91-83. As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock, the curtain dropped on Ulm's fantastic 2005-2006 season. All that remained on the evening was celebrating the year and the year to come.
After the immediate mid-court celebration, team pictures and autographs, the Ulm team cut down the net at Sportszentrum Kuhberg as fans flooded the floor or stood on their feet at their seat. Soon, everyone was outside for the open-air tent party at Kuhberg's main enterance where a pep-rally feel kicked things off before the party took full swing. Truly it was a fantastic evening celebrating a championship season!
Statisically, Ulm outrebounded Kaiserslautern 50-35 and hit 43% fg (9-26 threes 35%) compared to Kaiserslautern's 42% fg (9-35 threes 26%). Jonthan Levy topscored for Ulm hitting 5 of 10 threes to finish with 23 points which helped him eclipse the 600 point plateau this season with Ulm. Jeff Gibbs worked the boards for a team best 21 rebound haul along with 17 points. Big men Konrad Wysocki (12 points 7rebounds 4-5 floor shooting) and Maksym Shtein (12 points 5 rebounds) also played important roles in the win. Young wing Tim Schwart (19pts) and David Arigbabu (17pt 9reb) led the Red Devils while LyRyan Russell (16 points 9 reb), Paul Howard (16pt 4reb) and Florian Moysich (12pt) all reached double figures for the guests.
After a team dinner Sunday, the ratiopharm Ulm team will fly to the Spanish Island of Mallorca for a weeks fun in the sun together to celebrate their championship season! Follow all the fast breaking ratiopharm Ulm basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com
GO ULM!
MIKE T
