Banvit claims vital road win at Ulm

Banvit Bandirma continued its superb long-range shooting in beating ratiopharm Ulm 80-92 for an important road victory in Group G of the Last 32. Dominique Johnson hit 5 of Banvit’s 10 three-pointers in scoring a team-high 23 points to help Banvit improve to 2-1 in the group. Courtney Fortson collected 18 points and 11 assists, while Adrien Moerman scored 21 points and A.J. Slaughter and Gasper Vidmar both had 10 points for the winners. Ulm dropped to 0-3 in the group with its third straight home defeat dating back to Round 5 of the regular season. Raymar Morgan paced Ulm with 16 points, while Chris Babb had 15 points, Per Guenther chipped in 13, Augustine Rubit 12 and Philipp Neumann added 10 in the loss.

Fortson opened the scoring for the guests before Babb’s three-pointer gave Ulm its first lead. Rubit’s first basket had the hosts ahead 7-4. Moerman stepped up with 5 points in a 0-11 run to put Banvit up 7-15. Babb set up Neumann and added another score to get Ulm within 11-15. Neumann’s put-back made it 15-19 after 10 minutes. Johnson’s triple extended the cushion to 17-24 early in the second quarter. Joschka Ferner knocked down a triple for the hosts, but Ulm was held scoreless for nearly three minutes and Jackie Carmichael’s free throws made it 20-28. Trailing 22-30, Ulm reeled off 6 straight points and eventually took the lead on Rubit’s free throws to make it 33-32. Babb even pushed the gap to 36-32. Banvit answered with the next 4 points, but trailed 38-36 at intermission.

Rubit made it a 4-point game at the start of the second half before a Vidmar put-back had the guests within 41-40. Babb came back with a three and 6 straight points put Ulm up 52-44. Banvit used the outside shot to get back into the game as Johnson knocked down a pair of threes and 2 free throws before Tolga Gecim’s three-pointer put the guests ahead 58-60, which was the score after 30 minutes. Neumann’s basket and Brown’s three-pointer kept Ulm within 63-65, but Johnson nailed another triple, which was followed by a Fortson three and an alley-oop for Carmichael to extend the Banvit lead to 67-78 with five minutes to play. Ulm fought back with Guenther and Babb hitting three-pointers before another basket from Guenther closed the gap to 77-80 with less than three minutes to play. But Moerman punched right back with a corner three and Johnson followed from long range to make it 77-86. Ulm would not get closer the rest of the game.