Bramos, Viggiano triples lift Venice over Ulm

Umana Reyer Venice got back to the winning ways, topping the visiting ratiopharm Ulm 90-78 on Wednesday night. Venice snapped its two-game losing streak and now both teams hold 3-3 record in a share of the third place in Group C. Venice shot 14-for-31 from long range, compared to 4-for-17 for Ulm, which had 52-53 lead in the third quarter, and teams were tied at 62-62 going into the fourth. But Jeff Viggiano and Michael Bramos combined to hit 6 triples in the final 10 minutes, and lead the hosts to victory. Both finished with 16 points, as Viggiano shot 4-for6 from long range, while Bramos hit 4-for-4 triples in the final 5:09 of the game. Phillip Goss paced Venice with 22 points, and Mike Green dished 10 assists. Josh Owens had 15 points, and Hrvoje Peric scored all 12 of his points in the first half in victory. Raymar Morgan led Ulm with 23 points, while DeAndre Kane added 10.

Per Guenther had 5 points, including a three-pointer, in the opening 3 minutes, but Green hit from downtown for Venice and Peric scored 6 points to build 11-7 margin. Morgan and Guenther got the visiting offense going, but Green kept feeding teammates with assists, as triples from Viggiano and Tomas Ress, and baskets from Owens helped open 23-14 lead. Ulm answered with a 0-6 run, capped by a put-back from Philipp Neumann to make it 23-20 at the end of first quarter, before a three-pointer from David Brembly and a three-point play from Joschka Ferner during a 0-8 run gave the visitors 25-28 early in the second. But Peric hit from downtown, then made a steal and raced for a fastbreak basket, before Bramos and Owens joined in for Venice to regain the lead, 37-31. Taylor Braun scored twice for Ulm, but Goss hit triples on consecutive possessions for the hosts, and Stefano Tonut had a basket-plus-foul as Venice went into halftime with 46-41 advantage.

Morgan was hot at the start of the third, scoring 7 consecutive points, including a basket-plus-foul, and getting Ulm within 50-48, before a three-pointer from Brembly put the visitors in front, 52-53. A three-point play from Neumann, and a basket from Kane opened 54-60, but back-to-back three-pointers from Viggiano and Goss tied it at 62-62 after 30 minutes. Viggiano opened the fourth with a three-pointer, and Goss had a basket-plus-foul, 68-62. Braun and Morgan got Ulm back within a single possession, but back-to-back triples from Bramos and Viggiano made it 76-68. Morgan scored more for Ulm, but a second-chance basket from Owens, and another three from Bramos made it 81-72 with under 3 minutes to go. Bramos added two more triples in penultimate minute, that opened 87-76 and sealed the deal.