BG Göttingen shrugged off their failure to qualify for the FIBA Europe Cup and started their easyCredit BBL season with a hard-fought 93-84 road victory over ratiopharm ulm. Göttingen played a short seven-man rotation but were carried by an outstanding Mark Smith. Göttingen moved to 1-0 on the season and Ulm dropped to 0-2.
Game summary: Karim Jallow scored the first five points of the game and Ulm’s biggest lead in the first quarter was six points - which was the hosts’ lead after 10 minutes, 28-22. The advantage grew to eight points but Göttingen were not impressed and fought back, scoring the final seven points of the first half to lead 51-47 at the break.
Göttingen extended the margin to six points early in the third quarter only to give up the advantage and fall behind. Göttingen used the three-pointer to pull back ahead and led 69-63 after 30 minutes. Thanks to Ulm’s inefficiency on offense, Göttingen pushed the cushion to nine points 72-63 and Harald Frey drained a big triple for an 86-75 lead with less than 3 minutes to play. Ulm trimmed the gap to four points, but Mark Smith also hit from deep with 89 seconds to play to kill off Ulm's hopes of a magical comeback.
Numbers Please: Göttingen forced 17 Ulm turnovers and committed only 11 while also holding Ulm to just 27.6 percent on three-pointers. Ulm also were unable to use their rebounding advantage with 43 rebounds to 31 for Göttingen, including 13 offensive rebounds.
Player of the Game: Mark Smith was big all game for Göttingen and flirted with a triple-double as he collected 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Germans: Göttingen, who were missing the injured Mathis Mönninghoff and departed Taze Moore, got a big game from Till Pape, who scored 12 points and had 4 rebounds against his former club. Karim Jallow poured in 14 points with 4 rebounds for Ulm, who also had Robin Christen add 8 points in the loss.
Also Newsworthy Part 1: Smith was one of four Göttingen players in double figures scoring with Harald Frey knocking down four three-pointers in tallying 18 points as the second-best scorer.
Also Newsworthy Part 2: Ulm big man Devin Robinson had a strong game with 18 points and 9 rebounds but prized 18-year-old point guard talent Juan Nunez struggled with 6 points on 2-of-7 shots and 2 assists to 6 turnovers.
What's up next: Ulm return to the court on Sunday and will be the first opponent for promoted side ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES on Sunday October 9. Göttingen remain on the road for their next game as they take on HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim on Friday October 7.
Video: Highlights for this game available in the upper right under the tab "Video" or here at MAGENTA SPORT.
Anmerkung: In der Saison 2022/23 werden wie hier auch gelegentlich Nachberichte in englischer Sprache verfasst.
Note: During the 2022-23 season, there will occasionally be game reports published in English.
