By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Ratiopharm Ulm continued with its great effort in the German League Final Tournament with a third win out of as many games, this time prevailing 92-80 over HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim.
Dylan Osetkowski scored 17 for the winning side while Tyler Harvey and Derek Willis added 14 each. The latter also grabbed 12 boards for a double-double.
On the other side, Maurice Stuckey banked game-high 20 points followed by Fabian Bleck’s 18 and Sebastian Herrera’s 16 points (and nine assists).
Crailsheim had a slight lead after a highly effective first quarter from both sides (30-28) while the squads went to the halftime rest with a tie (52-52). However, Ulm took over in the third quarter to make an 11-point difference (76-65) which propelled them to victory.
Rasid Mahalbasic posted 22 points and seven rebounds as he led EWE Baskets Oldenburg to an 80-62 win over BG Gottingen.
Rickey Paulding helped Oldenburg grab its first win at the tournament with 15 points while Nathan Boothe logged a double-double with 14 points and ten rebounds.
For Gottingen, Terry Allen scored 16 in addition to Dennis Kramer’s 12 and Dominic Lockhart’s 11 points.
Oldenburg was up 23-18 after the first quarter and 44-39 at halftime while it was thanks to Mahalbasic’s 12-point effort in the third quarter that they pulled ahead 64-52 in front of the final period, which was enough to seal the deal in the last ten minutes.
BBL Group A Day 3
EWE Baskets Oldenburg – BG Gottingen 80-62 (Mahalbasiic 22 – Allen 16)
Ratiopharm Ulm – HAKRO Merlins Cralsheim 92-80 (Osetkowski 17 – Stuckey 20)
Standings
1. Ratiopharm Ulm 3-0*
2. EWE Baskets Oldenburg 1-1
3. FC Bayern Munich 1-1
4. BC Gottingen 1-1
–
5. HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim 0-3
* Qualified for the knock-out phase
BBL Group B Day 3
Fraport Skyliners – RASTA Vechta (11/6, 16:30 CET)
MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg – Brose Bamberg (11/6, 20:30 CET)
Standings
1. ALBA Berlin 2-0*
2. MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg 2-0*
3. RASTA Vechta 0-1
4. Brose Bamberg 0-1
–
5. Fraport Skyliners 0-1
* Qualified for the knock-out phase