ratiopharm ulm remained perfect at the easyCredit BBL Final Tournament 2020 as they pulled away in the second half against HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim for a 92-80 victory.
Dylan Osetkowski was top scorer with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn for Ulm, who improved to 3-0 in Group A. Tyler Harvey chipped in 14 points and 6 assists, Derek Willis had 14 points and 12 rebounds, Andi Obst and Gavin Schilling both tallied 12 points and Archie Goodwin put in 11 points. Jaka Lakovic’s team will finish group play on Sunday June 14 vs BG Göttingen.
Crailsheim dropped their third straight game despite Maurice Stuckey pouring in 20 points, Fabian Bleck scoring a career-high 18 points and Sebastian Herrera picking up 16 points and 9 assists. Crailsheim played with only nine players on the roster – and no Americans – as DeWayne Russell, Javontae Hawkins and Jeremy Morgan all were unavailable besides the trio of Quincy Ford, Aaron Jones and Jan Span who did not return to Germany for the tournament.
After Ulm scored the first five points of the game, Stuckey picked up 6 points in a 12-2 run as Crailsheim went ahead 12-7. Bleck scored in that run and continued his great start with a layup, three-pointer and two free throws and David Brembly also hit from long range to help Crailsheim pull ahead 20-12. Ulm rushed back into the game and Harvey’s triple made it 24-23. Stuckey added another triple and Herrera completed a three-point play and Crailsheim led 30-28 after 10 minutes.
Herrera came out on fire in the second quarter with six points as Crailsheim pulled ahead 38-28. Ulm answered with the next five points but Stuckey drained a triple to make it 43-35. Ulm charged back with a Per Günther trey, three free throws from Harvey and a triple from Willis, who would tie the game 48-48. And the game was even 52-52 at the break.
Osetkowski scored six points as Ulm started the second half with a 12-2 run for a 64-54 lead. Crailsheim cut the gap to four points at 64-60, but Obst drained two three-pointers in a 12-4 surge to extend the lead to 76-64, leading 76-65 after 30 minutes.
Ulm scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to push the margin to 82-65. But Ulm went scoreless for 4:44 minutes and Crailsheim pulled within 82-76. Obst stopped the rut with a three-pointer and Osetkowski picked up five points for a 90-78 lead with 1:45 minutes to play – deciding the game.
QUOTES: Ulm’s Gavin Schilling: “We all decided at halftime to see the game as 0-0 and give everything we have. We played a little better in the third quarter, and things just went better for us.”
(Who can stop Ulm in this tournament): “If we play like we have so far then I don’t think anyone can stop us.”
Crailsheim’s Sebastian Herrera: “I am so unbelievably proud of this team. All of a sudden we have no foreigner on the court and we are still giving everything we have. The young players come on and go full out. They play good minutes. Everyone, really everyone gave everything they had today. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, but that’s the mentality that Crailsheim is all about. We were a bit unlucky with injuries and some situations in the preparations, but we can fight until the end and remain positive because this is our team. It’s always fun playing with the guys. And we have to see it like that.”
Crailsheim head coach Tuomas Ilsalo: “What can I say? I am of course unbelievably proud of our game today. We really fought. In my opinion, Ulm played the best basketball here in the first two games. And then to have a game like today, yeah, what can I say? I am so satisfied with this performance.”
(How did you prepare this team for the game): “It’s pretty easy. Maybe it would be difficult to win the game on the scoreboard, but we have our own identity. We play with high intensity. We play collective team basketball.”