The BBL top match on matchday 3 goes to the champion: Ulm won 100-88 against Alba Berlin thanks to a strong final phase and thus sent an exclamation mark to the competition. Promoted Vechta also celebrated their third win in the third match.
Alba Berlin conceded its first defeat in the third game of the season in the Basketball Bundesliga. On Saturday evening, the capital club lost 88:100 (52:49) at German champion ratiopharm Ulm after a weak final phase. The best Berlin scorers were world champion Johannes Thiemann with 19 and Matt Thomas with 16 points.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without the injured centres Yanni Wetzell and Khalifa Koumadje, as he did in the Euroleague defeat at FC Bayern München on Thursday. Tim Schneider was also absent. The game started with a delay of more than ten minutes due to technical problems. But that didn’t seem to bother Alba, they immediately took a 6:2 lead, but Ulm answered promptly.
However, towards the end of the first quarter, the guests were able to pull ahead by double digits for the first time (27:17). In a hectic phase shortly before the break, however, Alba almost squandered the lead again. At the end of the third quarter, the game was finally even again (68:68).
This was also the case four minutes before the final siren (83:82 Ulm), but in the last minutes nothing worked for the guests. Ulm played themselves into a frenzy and pulled away with an 11:0 run. The final period went 32:20 to the home side, who celebrated their third win in three games. The best scorer for Ulm was Karim Jallow (18), Juan Nunez (17) and L.J. Figueroa (13) also provided important points in the final phase – the latter with an alley-oop and a three-pointer, among others.
Vechta without problems – Göttingen wins in Overtime
The Ulm team, however, is not the leader of the table. That honour belongs to Rasta Vechta, who celebrated a 103:72 blowout win against Tübingen – also the third win in the third game. Already in the first quarter, the home side had a double-digit lead, and in the further course of the game, thanks to Joel Aminu (24 points, 5/8 threes) among others, they did not let anything happen.
Heidelberg, on the other hand, remained winless in their third game, with Head Coach Joonas Iisalo’s team suffering an 83-92 defeat against Oldenburg. It was a spectacular affair in Göttingen: BG’s first game of the season only found a winner after double overtime, Zach Ensminger (22 points) crowning an 8:0 run with a three-pointer for the decisive 108:101 47 seconds before the end. In the end Göttingen won 110:104, best scorer was Bodie Hume with 30 points.
BG Göttingen – Hakro Merlins Crailsheim 110:104 n.2.V. (26:17,13:27,21:21,30:25,9:9,11:5)
Points BG Göttingen: Hume 30, Ensminger 22, Gibson 19, Silins 10, Anticevich 8, Burns 8, Mönninghoff 6, Rich 6, Zugic 1 Hakro Merlins Crailsheim: Westermann 24, Cook 22, Stuckey 13, Bleck 11, Murray-Boyles 11, Smith 11, Kindzeka 5, Wulff 3, Baggette 2, Oduro 2 Spectators: 3013
ratiopharm Ulm – Alba Berlin 100:88 (20:27,29:25,19:16,32:20)
Points ratiopharm Ulm: Jallow 18, Nunez 17, De Paula 14, Figueroa 13, Mathias 12, Williams 12, Dadiet 8, Bretzel 6 Alba Berlin: Thiemann 19, Thomas 16, Brown 12, Mattisseck 12, Olinde 9, Delow 6, Spagnolo 6, Nikic 5, Samar 3 Spectators: 6000
MLP Academics Heidelberg – EWE Baskets Oldenburg 83:92 (22:26,18:20,22:23,21:23)
Points MLP Academics Heidelberg: Kesteloot 16, Lasisi 15, Mcguirl 13, Carroll 10, Keßen 9, Zipser 7, Würzner 6, Whaley 4, Hundt 3 EWE Baskets Oldenburg: D. Russell 21, Williams 21, Manning Jr. 18, Chapman 10, Schoormann 8, Foster 5, Wank 5, Agbakoko 2, Izundu 2 Spectators: 3169
Rasta Vechta – Walter Tigers Tübingen 103:72 (32:20,23:22,25:16,23:14)
Points Rasta Vechta: Aminu 24, Grünloh 14, Iwundu 14, Flanigan 12, Schwieger 9, Williams 7, Diallo 6, Kuhse 6, Reaves 5, Ferner 4, van Slooten 2 Walter Tigers Tübingen: Jackson 16, Boeheim 12, Otto 12, Philipps 9, Akobundu-Ehiogu 7, Ersek 5, Kivimäki 5, Jönke 3, Lanmüller 3 Spectators: 3140
