TAYLORHOOPS.COM ULM UPDATE
92 
81
ULM UPSETS LUDWIGSBURG!
ratiopharm Ulm upset regional rival EnBW Ludwigsburg 92-81 in the "Baden-Wurrtemburg Derby" Saturday night before a standing room only sellout crowd at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm. Powered by a 26 point performance from Jonathan Levy and a 22 point 13 rebound effort in the paint from Jeff Gibbs, ratiopharm Ulm won their 6th straight home game to improve to a surprising 12-13 in the first Bundesliga season. Winning the first leg of this home and home series, Ulm captured the valuable Bundesliga points. Now, both teams set their sights on a Wednesday night German Cup Elite 8 rematch at Rundsporthalle in Ludwigsburg where a trip to the Top Four in Hamburg is on the line.
Ulm's Jonathan Levy sparked his teams offense with sparkling scores at the rim or behind the arc. Levy topscored with 26 in the win.
click here for complete Ulm @ Ludwigsburg Box Score
click here for Ulm v Ludwigsburg Photo Gallery
EnBW Ludwigsburg entered Sportszentrum Kuhberg not only as a league leading team tied with ALBA Berlin atop the standings at 19-5, Head Coach Silvano Poropat and his players appeared in Ulm as one of the most positive surprise stories of the season. Winning because of their team effort and chemistry, Ludwigsburg plays an entertaining style of basketball which fans and opposition can respect and enjoy. While Ludwigsburg has established themselves as a quality team of the present, ratiopharm Ulm fans could only look back to the past and anticipate the rekindling of this fantastic traditional rivalry. After splitting two preseason games and Ludwigsburg edging Ulm earlier this season in Ludwigsburg, Ulm fans finally had the chance to see these two TEAMS compete head to head at Sportszentrum Kuhberg for the first time since 2001. Sold out for over 2 weeks, a standing room only crowd packed Kuhberg with every bit of the expected enthusiasm!
Ulm's Jeff Gibbs was strong scoring 22 points with 13 rebounds on 9 of 10 floor shooting.
Starting the game strong, Ludwigsburg demonstrated their offensive precision scoring almost at will against the Ulm defense. Pushing the ball quickly in transition, Ludwigsburg used their tempo to create opportunities in end of break situations. In the halfcourt, solid screening and quality execution resulted in open shots which the talented players buried. Meanwhile, Ulm started slowly failing to convert several layups or put backs in the lane. Ludwigsburg big men gained position on the block or crashed the boards for stickbacks. 5 minutes into the exciting end to end uptempo action, the guests from Ludwigsburg held a 13-7 lead and seemed to be setting the tone with their offensive efficiency. Suddenly, sparked by Jeff Gibbs strong play in the paint and Jonathan Levy's perimeter scoring, Ulm charged back and with the support of the home crowd, roared into a 24-21 lead. Late in the first quarter, ratiopharm Ulm's newest roster addition made his debut as EJ Gallup stepped onto the Sportszentrum Kuhberg floor for the first time. Within two minutes of play, EJ dished out 2 assists helping his team in the run to take the lead. At the first quarter buzzer both teams stood square at 26-26.
ratiopharm Ulm's Austen Rowland created well for his team dishing out 9 assists.
After struggling to get stops in the opening quarter, Ulm emphasized their defensive work over the next minutes. Both teams exchanged baskets and the game progressed to 36-36. With 5 minutes remaining the first half, Ulm embarked on a 12-1 run to take a 48-37 lead into the halftime lockerroom. Point guard Austen Rowland's play created excellent scoring chances for his team. The Ulm defense registered stops which helped the team get into the open court. Jeff Gibbs 12 points and 9 rebounds in the first half provided the powerful presence in the paint. And Jonathan Levy capped off the exciting first half with an athletic 2 on 1 transition lob dunk from Rowland in the last seconds before the halftime buzzer. When Levy threw the lob dunk down, the Sportszentrum Kuhberg crowd nearly blew up! Clearly, at the half, Ulm held the 11 point lead and all the momentum.
Ulm C Bryan Lucas finishes a fast break layup in the third quarter Ulm run. Lucas finished his excellent effort with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
But in the halftime lockerroom, ratiopharm Ulm knew the job was half done. Anyone who knew anything about Ludwigsburg knew that this was a team with tremendous heart and excellent teamwork. In fact, trailing by 15 points in Trier a few weeks ago, Ludwigsburg battled back for an overtime road comeback win at Trier Arena. With the rivalry and emotion surrounding the game, anything could happen in the second half and both teams knew it. Discussing what was working and what must be improved, Ulm remained focused and aimed to make another run in the third quarter.
Ulm forward Emeka Erege made several key plays down the stretch including this finish at the end of a press attack. The Ulm Captain contributed 11 points and his usual excellent defensive effort.
Capitalizing on several big plays, ratiopharm Ulm opened up the game. Bryan Lucas buried a left wing three. Jeff Gibbs followed suit, sinking a top of the key three. Jonathan Levy continued his strong offensive game. Ulm built on their lead. Adding to their strong second quarter, Ulm outscored Ludwigsburg 21-16 in the third. But as the bench began rotating onto the floor for ratiopharm Ulm, turnovers began to factor into their performance. In the closing minutes of the third quarter, Ludwigsburg closed the lead as Ulm made several silly mistakes. Ulm's lead remained large at 16, but Ludwigsburg had hope --- and an entire quarter to play.
Ulm's Konrad Wysocki made strong plays energizing his team with key minutes at both forward spots.
Giving the bench opportunity to work through their issues with the Ludwigsburg pressure, the hope was that the combination on the floor would come together, play strong and effectively attack the Ludwisgburg full court press. Unfortunately, as the turnovers mounted, the deficit was trimmed. With the lead cut to 11, the entire starting five returned to the floor focused to regain stablity and control in the game. But lackadazical play against the Ludwigsburg pressure continued to cause Ulm problems. Long passes, standing and watching rather than active cutting, poor positioning, forced passes into traffic and backcourt violations all plagued Ulm's press attack. A Technical Foul called on Ulm power forward Jeff Gibbs further helped the Ludwigsburg comeback. Fortunately, the Ulm team defensive work remained strong. Finally, point guard Austen Rowland and Captain Emeka Erege began to make strong and intelligent plays attacking the Ludwigsburg press and the result was baskets at the other end. Erege took two passes over the top and in the middle of the floor which he immediately converted into easy baskets. Meanwhile, Rowland effectively handled the traps and pressure making good decisions. The composure and baskets helped Ulm continue to outscore Ludwigsburg down the stretch. Jonathan Levy buried two late three point shots that kept the lead in double digits. Up 79-64, Ulm had rebuilt their lead. But Ludwigsburg was not finished. Clutch finishes from playmaker Jerry Green and two three point shots from Milan Goljovic brought the visitors back into the game at 82-73 with just over a minute to play. Ulm converted their free throws and capped the upset home win with a terrific alley oop lob dunk to Jeff Gibbs just before the buzzer. Sportszentrum Kuhberg could celebrate their teams 92-81 win!
EJ Gallup made his ratiopharm Ulm debut with 2 assists in just over 5 minutes of action. A sharpshooting combo guard, Gallup arrived in Ulm Thursday and contributed to the win Saturday.
In the win, Ulm shot 60% from the floor (36-60) and made 6 of 13 threes. They also outrebounded Ludwigsburg 39-30. While Ulm dished out 21 assists as a team, they also suffered 19 turnovers. Meanwhile, Ludwigsburg made 44% from the floor (32-72) and 7 of 29 from three.
Jonathan Levy's 26 point performance was a spark for his team and included several clutch baskets and enerziging plays. Jeff Gibbs' powerful 22 point, 13 rebound game came on a near perfect 9 of 10 from the floor. Bryan Lucas added 13 points with 7 boards on 5 of 7 floor shooting and Emeka Erege also reached double figures with 11 points combined with his regular high intensity defense. From the Ulm bench, quality performances were produced from Konrad Wysocki (9 points 4 rebounds 3 assists) and Maksym Shtein (7 points 3 rebounds). The game was a special victory for Shtein and Ulm assistant coach Rainer Bauer as both have ties to Ludwigsburg. Five players reached double figures in the usual team first performance for Ludwigsburg. Jerry Green led the way with 16 points 3 assists while both Michel Nascimento (7 rebounds) and Je'Kel Foster added 14 points apiece. C Pavelas Cukinas scored 13 points and Milan Goljovic added 11. Former Ulm captain Nils Mittmann scored 5 points off the bench for Ludwigsburg.
SPECIAL WIN!
ratiopharm Ulm C Maksym Shtein (a former Ludwigsburg player) and Assistant Coach Rainer Bauer (a Ludwigsburg native) celebrate Saturday's upset win over EnBW Ludwigsburg together at Center Court.
Winning the first leg of this home and home series, Ulm captured the valuable Bundesliga points as they improved to 12-13 while Ludwigsburg slipped to 19-6. Now, both teams set their sights on a Wednesday night German Cup Elite 8 rematch at Rundsporthalle in Ludwigsburg where a trip to the Top Four in Hamburg is on the line. Follow all the fastbreaking ratiopharm Ulm Bundesliga basketball action all season long on Taylorhoops.com!
GO ULM!
MIKE T
