Nymburk stifle Murcia to win group; Nanterre advance

MIES (Switzerland) - In 2019, Pascal Donnadieu was still coaching Nanterre 92, and helped them reach the Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals; in 2021, ERA Nymburk were competing at the same stage.

The latest Wednesday of action in the Round of 16 brought both back to the best eight teams in the BCL.

UCAM Murcia 60-76 ERA Nymburk

UCAM Murcia went out of last season's Final Four in Belgrade with high hopes, hoping that in 2024-25, they would have had different hardware around their neck.

From that perspective, this season turned out to be a disappointing one, as Sito Alonso's team were eliminated in the Round of 16.

In order to stay alive, they needed to beat one of the hottest teams in the whole competition, ERA Nymburk. They had their fate in their hands, but coming out of the locker room to start the third quarter, it looked clear which team wanted this win more.

Francesco Tabellini's high-tempo squad produced a 27-14 (including a crucial 9-0 run) partial in the third, escaping all the way to the final 76-60 road victory in Murcia.

With Nanterre 92 beating Falco-Vulcano Szombathely, the chances of qualifying disappeared all of a sudden for UCAM Murcia, all in a horrible shooting night (17-of-53 from the field, 16-of-25 at the line).

Nobody shone, everybody shone: Francesco Tabellini's team had another collective-effort performance, as nobody scored more than 15 points. It happened to be Vojtech Hruban, who returned to the club for nights like this one.

Jonah Radebaugh (15 points) had three three-pointers in the first quarter, contributing to his team's 14-0 early run that looked promising heading to the rest of the game. Eventually, Nymburk took control.

The Czech champs, returning to the BCL Quarter-Finals after four years of absence, will now face one of Bertram Derthona Basket, Galatasaray, or Pallacanestro Reggiana, with home-court advantage in best-of-three series.

They will learn their opponent in the draw, happening on Friday, March 28, at 11:30 CET.

Falco-Vulcano Szombathely 89-95 Nanterre 92

Philippe Da Silva accepted Nanterre's head coaching call with a giant burden: make sure that he didn't disappoint such an audience, accustomed to seeing Pascal Donnadieu on this bench for 37 years.

Well, putting Nanterre back into the best eight teams in the whole Basketball Champions League picture for the first time since 2019 doesn't sound too bad for a first season at guidance, does it?

That's exactly what the French side managed to get after finding consistency in the Round of 16. Beating 95-89 the winless Falco in Szombathely was part of their duty, but thanks to Nymburk's success on Spanish soil, they could fully celebrate the move to the next round.

Desi Rodriguez (23 points) and Justin Tillman (18 points, 4-of-5 from deep) continue being the winning duo for Nanterre, which have now won six of their last eight games in the BCL, including the reverse fixture against Falco (83-71). That was their biggest win this season in the competition.

"We knew what we were coming into this game for. There was only one goal and that was to win the game and hope the result in the other game goes well. We came out sluggish and they got up to a quick lead. Our coach Phillippe got on us about that and we were able to climb back into the game," Rodriguez described the secret behind the comeback from -14 to +6.

Falco in the BCL means Hungarian players giving their all for this club. Wednesday was no exception, as Marcell Pongo, Zoltan Perl, and Benedek Varadi combined for 59 points and 19 assists.

In the BCL Quarter-Finals, the French team won't count on home-court advantage after being classified as second-seeded in Group L.

They will therefore face a seeded team in the best-of-three series starting away from France. Their opponent will be either AEK Betsson BC, Unicaja, or La Laguna Tenerife.