ratiopharm ulm continued their dominance at home and moved just one victory from the easyCredit BBL Finals after beating FIT/One Würzburg Baskets 99-86 at home. The 2023 champions rebounded from the Game 2 loss in Würzburg thanks to a 14-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. Karim Jallow led the way with 26 points and Noa Essengue had 17 points and 9 rebounds. Würzburg could not take advantage of 25 points from season MVP Jhivvan Jackson.
Record: ratiopharm ulm (2nd seed) - FIT/One Würzburg Baskets (6th seed) 2-1
Game Summary: Ulm’s defense held strong early for a 7-3 lead after 3 minutes. Two triples had the guests up 13-11 and Würzburg’s own tough defense kept Ulm scoreless for more than 2 minutes for a 20-15 cushion, which was 20-17 after 10 minutes. Ulm scored the first six points of the second quarter to reclaim the lead 23-20. Würzburg fought their way back ahead 27-26 before Noa Essengue stepped up at both ends and Justinian Jessup drained two triples as a 14-0 run gave the hosts a 40-27 lead. The advantage was 48-37 at the break.
The third quarter saw Karim Jallow carry Ulm while Jhivvan Jackson tried all he could with 9 points but an Essengue triple put the hosts up 62-46. Würzburg temporarily trimmed the deficit to 11 points but trailed 68-55 after 30 minutes. Ulm remained in control and two alley-oop dunks from Marcio Santos helped push the lead to 19 points 85-66 with under 6 minutes to go. Würzburg did not give up and a 10-2 run had the margin down to 89-79. Würzburg head coach Sasa Filipowski decided with 3:57 minutes left in the game and his team down just 90-79 to sub out his five top players - Jackson, Seljaas, Steinbach, Davion Mintz and Mike Lewis. The guests did not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Numbers Please: Ulm dominated the glass with 53 rebounds to just 26 for Würzburg. The hosts turned 20 offensive rebounds - Würzburg managed just 4 - into 18 second chance points. Ulm were not really able to get out of their outside shooting slump with just 6-of-24 threes for 25 percent while Würzburg hit 40 percent from long range to stay close.
Player of the Game: Karim Jallow poured in 26 points on 10 of 14 shots including 5 of 8 free throws while also collecting 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
The Germans: Besides Jallow, Nelson Weidemann picked up 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists for Ulm. Hannes Steinbach collected 13 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists in the loss and Bazou Kone had 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist.
Bretzel with big help off the bench: Nicolas Bretzel came up with a big game off the bench in tallying 6 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes as Ulm were without Philipp Herkenhoff for the third game of the Semi-Finals and Marcio Santos dealt with foul trouble in the first half. Bretzel went scoreless in 13 minutes in three games in the Quarter-Finals and had collected 4 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes in the first two games against Würzburg.
Ulm one win from making up for last season: Ulm now have two chances to exorcise their demons from last season when they were eliminated in the Semi-Finals by Würzburg with a 3-1 series loss.
What's Up Next: The teams will match up again on Tuesday June 10 for Game 4 in Würzburg where Ulm can finish off the series and book a ticket to the Finals. Würzburg will be looking to square up the series and force a Game 5. The home team has won all three games thus far and Ulm are 19-1 this season in the ratiopharm arena.
Video: Highlights of this game will be available soon on Dyn's website or here on Dyn's YouTube channel.
Anmerkung: In der Saison 2024/25 werden wie hier auch gelegentlich Nachberichte in englischer Sprache verfasst.
Note: During the 2024-25 season, there will occasionally be game reports published in English.
