Ratiopharm Ulm use long ball in beating Pinar

Ratiopharm Ulm opened its Eurocup Last 32 in style with a convincing 83-64 victory at home over Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir. Ulm converted on 15 of 32 three-pointers to continually pull away from the Turkish team in Group I action. Edgar Sosa hit 3 three-balls in scoring 15 points to go with 4 assists while Keaton Nankivil had 4 treys for 14 points. Per Guenther and Daniel Theis both added 11 points and Will Clyburn had 10. Bobby Dixon and Jon Diebler each knocked down 4 three-pointers in scoring 18 points each for Karsiyaka while Esteban Batista collected 12 points and 13 rebounds in the loss.

The first four shots of the game were all threes for a 6-6 tie. Pinar moved ahead 8-11 but Philipp Schwethelm and Nankivil gave Ulm two more three-balls to open a 20-13 lead. Diebler answered with a trey and two foul shots to pull within 20-18 after 10 minutes. Sosa knocked down three three-pointers and threw down a dunk while Adam Hess and Theis joined Ulm’s parade of long distance shooters as the hosts’ advantage increased to 44-33. At the break, Ulm was leading 46-39. Ulm went scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half but Schwethelm and Theis connected from long range to spark a 12-0 Ulm surge for a 58-42 cushion. Dixon answered with a long ball of his own to help Pinar pull within 59-50 after three quarters. Yunus Sonsirma opened the fourth quarter for the guests to cut the margin to seven points but Nankivil drained three straight three-pointers as Ulm moved ahead 70-55 with seven minutes to play. Clyburn and Schwethelm hit back-to-back treys to extend the lead to 78-59 with four minutes to play. And Pinar would not get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.