Ratiopharm Ulm made club history in its debut Eurocup season by beating Crvena Zvezda Telekom 78-92 in Belgrade Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals. Ulm, which improved to 3-2, hosts Unics Kazan next week with first place in the group at stake. Zvezda dropped to 2-3 and despite the chance to win next week and finish with the same record as the Ulm/Kazan loser, it cannot advance since it lost the potential tiebreak against both sides. The game was close for the first quarter-and-a-half, but a 0-9 Ulm run helped make it 38-46 at halftime. The lead grew to 13 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth as Ulm secured the win long before the final buzzer. Allan Ray paced the winners’ attack with 26 points, Steven Esterkamp netted 20, Lance Jeter scored 15, Keaton Nankivil 13 and Per Guenther tallied 9 points and 6 assists. Igor Rakocevic scored 24 for Belgrade in defeat and Rasko Katic and Mike Scott added 11 apiece.

Rakocevic and Etserkamp traded baskets early through a 5-5 start, before Ray got going with 5 points of his own and John Bryant’s first basket gave Ulm a 7-14 lead. Rakocevic added his second three and Scott converted a three-point play to draw the hosts with 15-18, but Daniel Theis – with an assist and then a basket of his own – helped Ulm pull in front by 7 again. Elton Brown’s tip in at the buzzer brought the hosts with 19-22 after 10 minutes. Rakocevic lifted Crvena Zvezda into the lead, 24-23, early in the second quarter, capping a 9-1 charge. It was tied, 33-33, midway through the quarter when the visitors got a second wind. Four different players scored in a 0-9 run before free throws by Ray and Esterkamp gave Ulm a 38-46 halftime lead.

Zvezda twice drew as close at 5 early in the second half. Ulm reacted quickly to take a double-digit lead on Guenther free throws and to increase it to 44-57 on a Nankivil triple. Rakocevic’s best scoring efforts were not enough as Ulm had answers in Ray and Nankivil to hold on to a comfortable lead. Nankivil ended the quarter with a jumper that made it 56-67. Esterkamp looked to blow the doors off the game when he opened the fourth quarter with a triple, picked up a steal that resulted in a Jeter layup and sank free throw to bump the lead to 18. Rakocevic and Boris Savovic mounted a Zvezda offensive that resulted in a 14-3 run and narrowed the deficit to 75-82 with four and a half minutes to go. Ray responded from downtown to keep Ulm safe. With the outcome seemingly certain, the hosts continued to strive to tighten the gap in hopes of getting within 5 to stay alive by preserving a potential tiebreaker, but free throws by Ray and Esterkamp proved to be nails in the proverbial Zvezda coffin as Ulm made club history with a ticket to the quarterfinals.