Ben Saraf and Ulm are proving to be unstoppable. The 18-year-old talent led the German team to a 102-88 road win against Joventut Badalona in Eurocup action and broke his career high in points in the competition with 18. Saraf was excellent from the moment he entered the contest following Nelson Weidmann’s early foul trouble, as he drew numerous fouls and made his way to the free throw line where he went 7/8. Even the one shot he missed from the charity stripe he even managed to score a beautiful basket on the inside. He finished the first quarter with 7 points while at the beginning of the second quarter he added another two and later on he continued to fill the basket which included a tremendous step-back 3-pointer.

Saraf was excellent from the start of the game going 4/5 from two, 1/2 from three, 7/8 from the line (season high), 3 assists compared to 2 turnovers, 2 rebounds, drawing 5 fouls, 23 in the efficiency index and +21 in the plus-minus index (the highest on the floor) in less than 20 minutes. The Israeli sensation’s next game will be this coming Saturday (19:30) at home against Heidelberg in the German league, in what will be a battle for first place in the country.

Ulm is currently at the top of the German league standings in 1st place and are 4th in Group A of the EuroCup with a 7-4 record. It’s impossible not to start dreaming that they will be able to compete for the domestic league championship and perhaps even taking home the Eurocup title, as a team like Hapoel Tel Aviv is currently behind them in the standings.

Of course, this season is Saraf’s preparation for the NBA Draft and he recently moved to the prestigious player agency CAA, but most importantly it seems that Saraf is enjoying the process and that is what is most important overall.

Following the game, Saraf spoke about the victory, “We executed what the coach told us to do, we played aggressive, controlled the rebound as I told you at the beginning of the game as to what we needed to do. We did it and I think that’s what gave us the W. It was an important game for us, we want to be in the playoffs and it’s one step for there. We wanted to continue our good form and we did it really well.”