MIES (Switzerland) - Even without the final four-way tie at 3-3 that would have forced everybody to bring out their calculators, the Basketball Champions League Group A provided excitement until the very end of the Regular Season, including a dramatic charge by Nanterre 92 to go from being nearly eliminated to earning the homecourt advantage in the Play-Ins.
Nanterre's fighting spirit emerged at home
Forced to pick up a victory to avoid a surprising elimination and at the same time hoping to get to the second place in Group A, Nanterre 92 got over Hapoel Netanel Holon with an 87-77 win.
It was a huge collective effort for Philippe Da Silva's squad: more than half of the players stepping on the court on Wednesday finished the game by scoring in double-digits.
Among them, Justin Tillman had the most meaningful scoring night, dropping 18 points over 8-of-11 shooting from the field.
The experienced Paul Lacombe should fight for the "I did it all" award, concluding the game with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists - this was Lacombe's sixth game against Holon in BCL history, and he won all six of them.
Yotam Hanochi delivered a season-high 16 points for the guests.
It was a solid shooting night for both teams, as Nanterre converted 39.1 percent of their three-pointers while the purple-and-gold team followed at 37.5 percent.
In paint points, however, the hosts dominated 46-24, good enough to complete the sweep over the Israelis and finish second in the group.
Masterful comeback by Wurzburg
Just like Nanterre, the Bosnia and Herzegovina champions Igokea m:tel were not only forced to beat the first-placed team in the group, but they also needed an offensive outburst to boost their chances of surviving.
Keeping the lead for 33:15 minutes and going up even by 13 points, they were close to pulling it off, however, it wasn't enough. Wurzburg found a way to come back into the picture with an 11-0 scoring run from 76-67 to 76-78 with 3:56 left in the fourth.
From then on, they never lost control of the encounter, finishing with an 85-83 road win, as Nelson Phillips came up big in the clutch with a pair of and-one buckets for the lead and to put more daylight between them.
"We were nervous because of inexperience and many of our players playing this competition for the first time. Altogether I'm very happy to finish first with this hardworking team. This is a big reward for us as freshmen," coach Saso Filipovski praised his players after the win.
Despite both not living up to the expectations on Wednesday shooting-wise, Jhivvan Jackson (18 points and 6 assists) and Zac Seljaas (16 points and 8 rebounds) were yet again crucial for the Germans. Seljaas had 15+ points and 5+ rebounds in all six games this season.
The outcome everyone - except for Wurzburg and Holon fans - was expecting, in the end, didn't become a reality: Group A didn't finish with a four-way tie at 3-3, but still displayed the ultimate balance on Wednesday.
With these results, FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets ended in first position at 4-2, heading to the Round of 16, while Igokea m:tel got eliminated at 2-4.
By beating Hapoel Netanel Holon, Nanterre 92 got the home-court advantage in the Play-In, where they will face Filou Oostende; the Israeli team will start their best-of-three series on the road against Aliaga Petkimspor.