MIES (Switzerland) - A four-game Tuesday saw some changes in the standings of the Round of 16. The biggest winners of the day are the 2018 champions, along with the two-time winners from Spain, and the only French team left in the competition.
FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets 71-77 AEK Betsson BC
It was the battle of the 2-0 teams in Germany, with the hosts feeling good about finally having Zac Seljaas back from injury. However, it was all about AEK in this one.
They work in pairs, as Hunter Hale and Prentiss Hubb went crazy in the first half, hitting 7-of-11 three-pointers before the break, and setting the stage for the big guys to guide the ship to safety in the second half.
Grant Golden finished the game with 20 points on 9-of-9 shooting from the field, RaiQuan Gray had 12 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block, making his presence felt down the stretch.
Honorable mention: C.J. Bryce, 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, +15 in 33 minutes of action.
"I already knew it's never easy to win in this arena, the crowd comes out and they support. It was a big win for us but we gotta get back to work, lock in and we are gonna see this team again next week. We are happy to leave here with a W and get back to work," Bryce, a former Wurzburg player himself, said.
The game was played in an incredible atmosphere in front of packed stands with the loudest fans on opposite ends of each other, creating a memorable Tuesday evening in Germany.
Wurzburg got 17 points from Jhivvan Jackson and 16 from Davion Mintz in his first game with the team. AEK are now top of the table at 3-0, Wurzburg drop to 2-1.
# | TEAM | GP | W | L | For | AGT | +/- |
|
1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 267 | 233 | +34 | 6 | |
2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 230 | 233 | -3 | 5 | |
3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 262 | 250 | +12 | 4 | |
4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 230 | 273 | -43 | 3 |
La Laguna Tenerife 90-83 Aliaga Petkimspor
Make that 27 in a row! La Laguna Tenerife continued their incredible run at home in this competition, picking up their 27th straight win at the Santiago Martin Arena, and coach Txus Vidorreta got closer to another milestone.
Tenerife's playcaller in now up to 99 BCL wins, and could became the first coach to register 100 already next week, when his team makes the trip to Italy to face Pallacanestro Reggiana.
If there is one way you could upset Vidorreta and Tenerife in their backyard, it would be hoping they have a horrible shooting night.
However, they went 9-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half alone, opening up a 16-point gap, and putting the air out of Petkimspor's sails after 20 minutes of action. The road team came to within five in the third quarter, but Tenerife bounced back to double digits early in the fourth quarter.
Thomas Scrubb had a team-high 15 points with 6 rebounds for the two-time BCL champions, while Marcelinho Huertas flirted with another double-double with 9 points and 9 assists.
Bryson Williams had 19 points and 11 rebounds, 7 offensive, to lead Petkimspor.
Tenerife are up at 3-0 in Group K, while the Turkish team fell to 0-3 with this defeat.
ERA Nymburk 86-90 Nanterre 92
Consider it a major upset, as Nanterre 92 managed to defeat the perennial Czech champs on the road. The French team did not panic when ERA Nymburk opened up a 10-point lead, and kept feeding their frontcourt player to steal this one.
Coach Philippe Da Silva balanced the minutes perfectly after Ahmad Caver left the game with less than two minutes played and made it an eight-men rotation.
"Imagine playing against one of the best in the (Basketball) Champions League with only one guard and one wing man against this type of pressure, against this type of rhythm. It's one of the highest tempo teams."
"We have one team in our league (like this), Paris, they play more possessions than Paris," coach Da Silva praising Nymburk's offense
"That's an amazing job from my players and they deserve it because they never quit. Even when we were down 10 we came back into the game. We have shown growth as a team in the last three weeks and I'm really proud of these players and work," Da Silva added.
Milan Barbitch orchestrated the offense with 9 assists, Desi Rodriguez and Justin Tillman scored 25 each on 19-of-31 shooting, with Rodriguez becoming the first player in BCL history with 25+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 5+ steals in a single game - he had 25 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
Nymburk picked up 16 offensive rebounds - to no avail, they suffered their first defeat of the Round of 16. Without Jaromir Bohacik in the lineup, Tylan Birts led the offense with 14 points, but Nymburk were never going to win this game shooting 9-of-32 from beyond the arc.
Both teams are now at 2-1 in Group L.
Bertram Derthona Basket 97-77 Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola
Behind all the headlines and close call games, Bertram Derthona Basket cruised to a comfortable win over Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola, getting their first in the Round of 16.
Rising to 1-2, Derthona are now just a win behind Wurzburg in Group I standings, and if they complete the sweep in Greece next week, they could lift their chances of making the Quarter-Finals significantly, since they still have to play against both AEK and Wurzburg at home, in Italy.
The Italians put up 30 points in the first quarter alone and never looked back in this one.
Christian Vital poured in 20 points in just 15 minutes of work, Tommy Kuhse scored 15 with 5 assists, while Justin Gorham did a bit of everything with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
Jordan Walker scored 16 in a losing effort. Promitheas need to defeat Derthona next week to have any chance of making the Quarter-Finals.