MIES (Switzerland) - Two home wins - one in Athens and one in Vilnius - and one victory coming for the road side. That's how the first Wednesday of the Round of 16 opened the stage.
AEK Betsson BC 97-76 Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola
AEK Betsson BC started the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League Regular Season on a five-game winning streak. Qualifying directly for the Round of 16, the Queen was dreaming of old glory days.
Entering the Round of 16, Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola made them clash with reality, led by their sharp shooter Hunter Hale, who had 21 points in Promitheas's one-point win over AEK last season.
Hunter Hale kept #77 on his back this season, too, but switched jerseys. What remained was his brilliance.
He put up the same amount of points, adding 8 assists to lead Dragan Sakota's team to an impressive victory, which included a resounding 15-0 run between the third and fourth quarters.
It was also an exciting night for RaiQuan Gray, who took flight and landed for 18 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists. Honorable mention goes out to Omiros Netzipoglou too, as the Greek guard got his season-high with 19 points.
Promitheas Patras can't count on the Hale-Cowan deadly backcourt featured last season in the BCL, but still had 20 points from their usual suspect Wes Iwundu.
They must get a better contribution from their bench, though: AEK prevailed 45-8 in points from non-starters.
"Maybe the score doesn't show that but really we played one of our best games so we got not only the win but the points difference so you never know that could be some kind of advantage because there is a second game and we have to think about this," coach Sakota said.
Falco-Vulcano Szombathely 86-106 ERA Nymburk
Three-pointers have meant significantly this season in the Basketball Champions League for Falco-Vulcano Szombathely. Without a deep back-court three from Marcell Pongo, they wouldn't be here now.
On Wednesday night, three-point efficiency got reversed, as ERA Nymburk collectively shot 17-of-33 (51.52%) from beyond the arc. Eight of them came in the first quarter alone, when they first wrote the exclamation point.
The second moment when the Czech champions imposed their supremacy happened in the fourth quarter, concluding their first game in the 2024-25 Round of 16 with a 26-10 run.
Ultimately, Francesco Tabellini's team got back on the winning side, getting the road upper hand 106-86. They have now equaled their longest winning run away from home in the BCL at five straight games.
Jaromir Bohacik was as hot as a home-made goulash, leading with 25 points over 5-of-6 from three-point range.
Stephen Brown had a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists in helping Nymburk win the eighth of their last nine games played in the Round of 16.
Falco stayed alive until the end of the third quarter, even tying at 76-76. However, leading for only thirteen seconds throughout the whole encounter simply wasn't enough.
Zoltan Perl has now scored more than 20 points in his last three home games in this stage of the competition, and more than 20 points in six of his last eight BCL home games. Against Nymburk, he had 26 points.
Rytas Vilnius 86-66 Galatasaray
Wednesday night began with the same impression given to the audience in the last game played on Tuesday when La Laguna Tenerife rolled over Pallacanestro Reggiana.
At least that's what happened in the final chapters of AEK-Promitheas and Falco-Nymburk. In front of a sellout passionate crowd in Rytas Arena, instead, Rytas Vilnius and Galatasaray put up a tight battle.
Surviving against Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball in the Play-Ins, the Turkish side even led by 10 points (25-15) in the second quarter to start their Round of 16 in Lithuania.
From then on, however, going out of Giedrius Zibenas's timeout, Rytas woke up and never looked back. The hosts, who qualified directly without playing in the Play-Ins, got the 86-66 win. Starting the Round of 16 with a 20-point game is no easy task, especially considering points difference matters.
The Group Phase MVP Gytis Radzevicius, awarded before the tip-off, led his team with 16 points, helped by his countrymen Gytis Masiulis (13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field) and Azuolas Tubelis (12 points).
Without the MVP of the Play-Ins Will Cummings, the Lions got 14 points and 4 assists from Otis Livingston and 11 points from their brand-new playmaker Tyrone Wallace.
Pre-game notes warned us. Rytas have now secured the 12th win of their last fourteen games played at home in the BCL. Moreover, they're on their longest winning streak in the competition with six consecutive victories.
On the other side, Galatasaray have now lost all of their last ten road games played in the BCL Round of 16. In eight of these ten games, they have allowed 80+ points to their opponents.