Ulm dishes 30 assists, downs Cantu on the road


Edgar Sosa hit 7 three-pointers on 8 attempts, and Ratiopharm Ulm dished 30 assists, using a huge second quarter to pull away en route to a sounding 97-106 road win over FoxTown Cantu on Wednesday night. Victory improves Ulm to 2-0 in a share of Group I lead together with JSF Nanterre, while Cantu drops to 0-2, joining Pinar Karsiyaka bottom of the standings. Ulm hit 5 triples on 6 attempts in the second quarter, starting the period with a 2-19 run, and built a 32-54 halftime margin. Cantu rallied in the third quarter, but never came closer than eight points as Sosa paced the visitors with 24 points and 7 assists, while Daniel Theis collected 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. Trent Plaisted scored 14, Will Clyburn had 13 points, Cameron Long added 12 points and 6 assists, while Matt Howard contributed with 11 points and 7 rebounds. Maarten Leunen netted 17 for Cantu, Joe Ragland had 16 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds, while Adrian Uter finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Pietro Aradori had 15 points, while Awudu Abass and Marcel Jones tallied 12 apiece in defeat.

Uter with a put-back and Leunen with a triple got things started for Cantu, but Per Guenther orchestrated Ulm’s response stealing balls, assisting for Trent Plaisted, and sinking a three-pointer for 7-11. A three-pointer and a dunk from Awudu tied it at 16-16 late in the first quarter, but Adam Hess and Clyburn combined to score 8 points, before back-to-back-to-back triples, couple from Sosa and one from Long continued the run that put Ulm up 18-37. Ragland scored from close and long range to snap a 2-21 run, but Long nailed a three-pointer, before Plaisted and Theis scored inside for 25-49. Philipp Schwethelm hit a three to help Ulm to 32-54 halftime lead, and Plaisted, Guenther and Theis kept the margin early in the third quarter, 42-64. However, Ragland sparked hosts’ run with a basket-plus-foul, and with contribution from Jones and Aradori, Cantu cut it to 56-66. Clyburn and Sosa hit back-to-back triples for Ulm, but Jones also hit twice from downtown, and Abass once for 70-78. At the start of the fourth, Theis had a pair of dunks, latter one with additional free throw, and Sosa nailed a triple for 72-86. Alessandro Gentile scored from long range for the hosts, but Sosa hit his fifth three-pointer as margin increased to 75-91. Aradori from long, Abass and Uter from close range kept Cantu’s hope alive, but Sosa hit from downtown again, 82-96. Leunen hit another triple for the hosts, but so did Sosa, his seventh. Baskets from Ragland and Aradori cut it to 93-102, but with 90 seconds to go, it proved to be too little too late for Cantu.