ratiopharm ulm appear to have gotten out of their rut just in time for the holidays as they fought past ALBA BERLIN 67-66 on the road in a playoffs-like battle. Besides Ulm's hot start, the game was tight throughout and Ulm won it on back-to-back three-pointers from Christopher Ledlum and Tobias Jensen in the closing minutes. Ulm have now won three straight games in the Bundesliga for a 6-5 record. Ty Harrelson's team has triumphed in four of the last five games in all competitions after having dropped five straight and 10 of 11 overall. Mark Smith scored 18 points to lead the way. Berlin have now lost back-to-back games in the league for a 6-4 record after having won 11 consecutive games overall. Berlin could not use Norris Agbakoko's 15 points and 9 rebounds.
Game Summary: Ulm started in style with a 12-1 lead as Justin Simon scored seven points. Berlin needed more than 3 minutes to score a basket and went on a 12-3 run to pull within 15-13 and eventually claimed the lead 20-19 and it was 22-21 after 10 minutes for Berlin. Jack Kayil drained two three-pointers early in the second quarter and Berlin began to pull away with an 8-2 spurt for the first double-digit lead at 43-33. And the hosts were leading 46-37 at halftime.
Ulm did a better job defending in the third quarter but couldn’t really cut into the lead, trailing 52-44. But the guests held Berlin scoreless for more than 3 minutes and tallied nine straight points to reclaim the lead 53-52. But it was ALBA who were up after 30 minutes 54-53. Berlin managed to push the lead out to five points again but it was even at 61-61 with 5 minutes to play. Christopher Ledlum and Tobias Jensen knocked down back-to-back triples to put Ulm up 67-63 with under 3 minutes left. Justin Bean answered from deep to make it 67-66 but neither team could score in the final 1:55 minutes and Ulm escaped with the win when Kayil missed the potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Numbers Please: Both teams had a nightmare from the free throw line: Berlin with 15 of 26 for 58 percent while Ulm were even worse at 9 of 22 for 41 percent. But Ulm snatched 17 offensive rebounds to 9 for Berlin to make the difference.
Player of the Game: Justin Simon was there all game for Ulm with 11 points, 9 rebounds - four of them from the offensive glass, 6 assists and 1 steal.
The Germans: Christian Sengfelder collected 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block for Ulm. Norris Agbakoko led Berlin in scoring with 15 points to go with 9 rebounds while Jack Kayil came off the bench for 14 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists and Bennet Hundt had 7 points and 2 assists.
Strong return to Bundesliga for Ledlum: Christopher Ledlum was playing his first Bundesliga game since November 8 and he was a major factor off the bench. The forward - who played midweek in the BKT EuroCup and tallied 4 points and 4 rebounds - scored 15 points against Berlin while also picking up 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 15 minutes.
Sengfelder only 6 points from 2,500-point club: By scoring six points, Christian Sengfelder needs just six points to join the 2,500-point club in easyCredit BBL history. He would be the seventh active player in the league to reach that mark. The others are John Bryant (5,769), Yorman Polas Bartolo (3,080), Andreas Obst (3,010), Niels Giffey (2,936), Vladimir Lucic (2,554) and Tommy Klepeisz (2,537).
Berlin, Ulm second and third in budgets: The easyCredit BBL released the planned budgets and total player salaries for the 2025-26 season and Berlin and Ulm were ranked second and third, respectively. Berlin has a total budget planned for 11.42 million euros and 4.69 million for players while Ulm's figures were 9.21 million and 3.00 million, respectively - the players' budget being fifth-highest.
What's Up Next: Berlin’s next game will be on Friday December 26 when they at ROSTOCK SEAWOLVES. Ulm meanwhile have a road game next as they take on BMA365 Bamberg Baskets on Saturday December 27.
Video: Highlights of this game will be available soon on Dyn's website or here on Dyn's YouTube channel.
Anmerkung: In der Saison 2025/26 werden wie hier auch gelegentlich Nachberichte in englischer Sprache verfasst.
Note: During the 2025-26 season, there will occasionally be game reports published in English.
