The German basketball champions ratiopharm Ulm celebrated a dramatic victory in the EuroCup and inflicted their first defeat on the defending champions. Against CB Gran Canaria on Tuesday evening they scored 103:99 (86:86, 44:49) after extra time; the Spaniards had previously won all of their ten games in the competition. For Ulm it was also revenge for the debacle in the first leg: there was an 82:111 defeat on Gran Canaria in October.
Coach Anton Gavel’s team did much better in front of their own crowd, showed themselves to be more confident on the ball and only allowed themselves three turnovers before the break. Gran Canaria, the team of former Ulm coach Jaka Lakovic, initially impressed with strong shooting rates and took a narrow lead into halftime.
From the third quarter onwards, Ulm underlined its ambition to win, took the lead and forced the Spaniards, who are otherwise so confident in the EuroCup, into a tight final phase. At the beginning of extra time, a 7-0 series ensured the best conditions, LJ Figueroa was the Bundesliga club’s strongest scorer with 19 points. A total of five Ulm players scored at least 15 points each.
In Group B, Ulm (8:3 wins) consolidated fourth place, Gran Canaria (10:1) is still at the top. In the group of ten, Gavel’s team must finish in the top six to reach the next round. Two teams from each season advance directly to the quarter-finals, the clubs in third to sixth place play in the round of 16.