MIES (Switzerland) - Following Group E, it was time for Group B participants to conclude their run in this year's Basketball Champions League Regular Season. And there was no time for upsets.
Entering this stage as one of the few unbeaten teams in the whole competition, Unicaja still rolled past King Szczecin on the road to improve to a perfect 6-0; a few minutes later, Aliaga Petkimspor stayed ahead in Oostende to claim homecourt advantage in the Play-Ins.
Petkimspor survived in Belgium
Filou Oostende had to win by three points or more to overtake Petkimspor and advance to the Play-Ins with the homecourt advantage. Despite leading for 21:40 minutes, however, they still couldn't seal the deal, as Burak Goren's men came back from -7 to win it 85-76 in Belgium.
Breein Tyree did it again. After his marvelous 33-point winning effort in the reverse fixture against his former team, the American combo-guard led Petkimspor with a team-high 25 points, perfect from the line (12-of-12).
"It's great to be back in Oostende. This is a city that I really know well, I got to visit one of my favorite restaurants today and talk to a lady that really took care of me when I was here and also just see a bunch of old faces and rekindle some of those relationships. Also, it's really good to get a win in your old gym," Tyree said after the game.
Collectively, the Turkish team shot amazingly from beyond the arc, converting 44 percent of their three-pointers. Damyean Dotson was huge with a 5-of-8 in that category, ending with 16 points scored.
For the home side, the starting duo composed of Timmy Allen and Chase Audige combined for 38 points, but they still couldn't turn the eve's prediction around. They will have to fight away from home now.
Unicaja finish off a perfect 2024
Best for last, basically: Unicaja finished off the perfect calendar year, as they went 16-0 in the BCL in 2024. They are the first team to pull it off, and their 16 straight wins are the all-time record in this competition. Win #16 came against the still-winless King Szczecin, 91-67 on the road in Poland.
Ibon Navarro's team was already sure of qualification to the Sweet 16, but made sure they concluded their first step towards another successful campaign in the best of ways. It was a good occasion to reduce tiredness, as nobody spent more than 23 minutes of playing time on Wednesday.
Unicaja once again had outstanding contribution from the bench: the Spaniards got 62 of their 91 points from non-starters.
"There are very good teams who have already qualified for the next round and it's not just about the respect, it's that we have to take them very seriously. AEK won today by 30 points over Bonn, there's Manresa, Murcia, Tenerife, Rytas Vilnius, Nymburk - they are very good teams that you have to respect if you want to get to the Final Four or even win the BCL," coach Navarro shared his thoughts about going back-to-back.
Tyson Perez went close to a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 8 rebounds. There was even time for glory for the 2009-born Antoni Majcherek, one of the youngest ever to debut in BCL history, playing the final minute for the hosts.
Unicaja now have a direct ticket for Group J in the Round of 16, alongside the first-placed team in Group F, and the winners of the following Play-In clashes: D2 vs C3 and H2 vs G3.
Following Week 10 of the BCL Regular Season, Petkimspor will now face the third-placed team in Group A with homecourt advantage; Oostende, however, will have to go up against the second-placed team from that same group, starting the best-of-three game series on the road.