MIES (Switzerland) - During the first five seasons of the Basketball Champions League, the Czech champs were a legit Final Four contender, reaching a pair of Quarter-Finals in 2020 and 2021. However, a couple of early exits followed, and last season they failed to qualify for the BCL for the first time ever.
Galatasaray 75-87 ERA Nymburk
This summer they put together a solid roster, won the BCL Qualifiers in Antalya, and after another trip to Turkiye we can say they are back to their best. Because ERA Nymburk dominated the game from start to finish to take down juggernauts Galatasaray 87-75 in Istanbul.
Coach Francesco Tabellini's coaching style is now becoming recognizable, with a lot of shooting and even more running. While Nymburk's 10 three-pointers made isn't exactly an exceptional number, they were spread among seven different players, best evidence of Nymburk's team-first philosophy.
Christian Bishop ended up leading the scoring with 15 points and 9 rebounds, Jaromir Bohacik had 13, while Stephen Brown added 12 points to the mix.
With a pair of wins over Promitheas Patras in Greece and Galatasaray in Turkiye, Nymburk are now 2-0 with three of the remaining four group games to be played at home in Czechia.
"What led us to these two wins is that we played with the underdog mentality, and we need to embrace that and maintain it. The worst mistake we could make right now is to start thinking about first place." - Francesco Tabellini
Galatasaray tried fighting back, but the closest they got was to cut the deficit to 5 points with two minutes to play. However, Nymburk answered with a quick 7-0 run to set the final score at +12 from their point of view.
James Palmer Jr had 19 points in a losing effort.
FIT/One Wurzburg 98-80 Igokea m:tel
Another team with a 2-0 record: the newcomers from Wurzburg. They took control of Group A with a pair of wins at home, enjoying a dominant second half to see off the champions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Igokea were actually up by 9 points with four minutes left to play in the first half, but the last 24 minutes were textbook for coach Saso Filipovski and the FIT/Ones.
Led my Mike Davis Jr, who had 19 of his 25 points in the third quarter alone, Wurzburg won the last 24 minutes 68-41, making it a one-way street and easing away to another standing ovation at the tectake ARENA.
Zac Seljaas had another big game with 25 points and 8 rebounds, Jhivvan Jackson scored 19, while Mike Lewis II and Owen Klassen scored 10 apiece for the home team.
Terrell Carter had 16 points for Igokea before fouling out.
Peristeri Domino's 76-81 UCAM Murcia
History repeating for UCAM Murcia. In a replay of the 3rd-Place Game from the 2024 Final Four, they defeated Peristeri once again, setting up a possible repetition of their achievement in the Regular Season a year ago.
Murcia last season opened up their BCL campaign on a defeat too, but then went on to win the next five games and book a direct trip to the Round of 16 as group winners. They are up to 1-1 now, after dropping a game to Manisa Basket last week.
Six men were in double figures for coach Sito Alonso, led by Dylan Ennis with 11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Ennis has scored in double digits in all four games in the BCL and the Liga Endesa this season.
Peristeri looked better than a week ago, but they are still down at 0-2 now. Justin Patton's 18 points and 11 rebounds go to waste for the new look Greek team.
Hapoel Netanel Holon 70-76 Nanterre 92
The season just started, but there was a lot on the line for both of these clubs, trying to avoid an 0-2 start to the Ninth Symphony season in the BCL.
In a close game with no team being able to open up a double digit lead, Nanterre 92 were a step or two faster than Holon throughout the game, with Frank Jackson getting the and-one dagger to push the gap to +7 with a minute to play.
Desi Rodriguez had a team-high 18 points for Nanterre, while Jackson had 8 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Nanterre will feel good about their 1-1 record, because three of their remaining four Regular Season games will be played at home in France now.
Dakarai Tucker scored 15 for Holon, but the 2022 Final Four members are now 0-2 in the standings.