The Great Eight: Homesley sets the scoring mark in overtime win

MIES (Switzerland) - The eighth season of the Basketball Champions League tipped off this week, with some impressive individual performances all over the continent. In line with the season's number, we picked the eight best numbers from Wednesday's action.

First things first, here are the results of the day:

Falco Vulcano Szombathely v Unicaja 78-87 Galatasaray EKMAS v PAOK mateco 77-88 Igokea m:tel v Tofas Bursa 102-104 (OT) Promitheas Patras v BK Opava 115-66 JDA Bourgogne Dijon v Rytas Vilnius 87-83 Rio Breogan v Bursaspor Info Yatirim 68-48 Bertram Derthona Tortona v UCAM Murcia 78-74 [/unordered]

And here are the eight best numbers of the day:

Most points

Caleb Homesley is a newcomer in the Basketball Champions League, but it's hard to find a more impressive debut than his on Wednesday. Tofas Bursa's shooting guard kept his composure in overtime, after his club let a six point lead slip in the final 15 seconds of the fourth quarter.

The 26-year-old American finished with 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor, setting a BCL season-high mark for others to chase in the upcoming weeks. He was also the only player this week to hit double figures in field goals made.

Most rebounds

Elvar Fridriksson had a fine BCL campaign with Rytas Vilnius last season, and a bigger role with PAOK mateco was just what the doctor prescribed for 2023-24. In his first BCL game with the new club, Fridriksson posted the third triple-double in BCL history!

With 11 rebounds, he was the only player in double digits in rebounding on Wednesday. Reminder, Elvar is 183cm/6'0'' tall.

Most assists

Of course, Fridriksson led all players in assists, too. His 10th came on the final possession of the game, giving him a stat line of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

The previous two triple-doubles happened in 2017, posted by Chris Kramer and Arnas Butkevicius, so Fridriksson has ended a six-year long drought for this accomplishment in the BCL.

Most steals

It wasn't just about Fridriksson's triple-double, because PAOK mateco had four other guys in double figures. One of them was Jamuni McNeace with 14 points, but his most important stat was on the defensive end.

The 27-year-old center picked up 5 steals, the most of the opening week.

Honorable mention goes to Nikolaos Plotas. Promitheas Patras' 19-year-old played just 13 minutes against Opava, but that was enough to steal the ball four times.

Most blocks

Three is the magic number, again. After Vernon Carey Jr and Joan Sastre had three blocks on Tuesday, Bursaspor's Johnathan Hamilton, and Unicaja's David Kravish blocked three shots each on Wednesday.

However, Hamilton did it in a defeat, where Bursaspor's defense was actually solid, but their offense was horrid, with just 48 points on the road in Lugo, Spain.

Kravish not only had 3 blocks, but his 15 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals were a major reason why Unicaja held on for a win against a stubborn opponent such as Falco Vulcano Szombathely in Hungary.

Best +/-

Promitheas were flirting with the biggest win of all time in this competition (+59). They didn't get it, but with a blowout win, it had to be one of their players to lead the +/- on the day.

Jaime Echenique spent less than 22 minutes on the floor against Opava, and Promitheas were a +38 team with him out there.

Honorable mention goes to Bertram Derthona Tortona's Andrea Zerini. He played 23 minutes, scored just 2 points, but had 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, which is why Tortona were a +17 team in that span. To be +17 in a four-point win speaks volumes of your impact.

Highest efficiency

Homesley once again. Tofas' star is the first man with 30 in the efficiency department this season, getting there with 29 points, 7 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block, while turning the ball over just twice in 37 minutes of action.

 

Most three-pointers made

Andrew Harrison had four for PAOK, Homesley the same for Tofas, and Igokea m:tel's Marko Jeremic matched it in that game.

Gregor Hrovat was also up to four threes, helping JDA Bourgogne Dijon hold on to a win after they almost squandered a 25-point lead against Rytas Vilnius.