MIES (Switzerland) - What's better than debuting in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 with 34 points to give your team the win? Well, scoring the game-winning bucket to do it again.
That's what Jhivvan Jackson did in Patras on Wednesday night, a few minutes after the conclusion of another must-watch encounter: the Turkish derby between Galatasaray and Manisa Basket.
Manisa Basket 85-96 Galatasaray
2025 has been painted in red and yellow regarding matchups between Manisa Basket and Galatasaray.
On January 4, the Turkish Lions celebrated at home the 115-105 win in overtime in the Türkiye's Super League. On Wednesday night, in Muradiye Sports Hall, Galatasaray doubled in the BCL with a 96-85 road victory - a historic one, their first-ever on the road in the Round of 16 after nine straight defeats.
What's surprising, considering the guests' recent difficult stretch that included the heavy defeat against Rytas in Vilnius to open the Round of 16, was that their victory was never in doubt on Wednesday.
While Manisa led for only 41 seconds, Galatasaray dominated the encounter, even reaching an 18-point lead (65-47) in the third. The hosts looked helpless, as away fans from Istanbul rocked the arena.
That was the quarter where Galatasaray escaped for the second time, almost wasting their early 28-13 lead heading to halftime up by a couple of possessions.
And that's when Otis Livingston stepped up, scoring 11 of his total 18 points - with 4-of-5 from three-point range. Without Will Cummings, the ball was vastly handled by last season's Bundesliga MVP.
James Palmer Jr. kept the flow going, scoring 15 points of his 20 - with 10 rebounds and 7 assists - in the fourth. Worth mentioning the 2022 BCL Best Young Player Sadik Emir Kabaca's season-high 13 points.
While in the domestic league's thrilling win, Angel Delgado made the difference with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, in the BCL his substitute Ebuka Izundu was dominant with 15 points and 10 boards. He was the reason why Galatasaray dominated in the paint, scoring 46 points against Manisa's 34.
Following Unicaja's imposing win on Tuesday against Rytas, the reigning champions are reigning in Group J at 2-0. The Lithuanians are now tied with Yakup Sekizkok's team at 1-1, while Manisa are 0-2.
Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola 77-79 FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets
In the first week of this season's Basketball Champions League Round of 16, FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets managed to grab their first victory in such a stage only with a fantastic comeback.
As it happened against Bertram Derthona Basket, the debuting Germans had another similar victim in Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola, this time without their crowd's support.
Most importantly, they came back from -20 (48-28 ending the second) to win 79-77 in Greece. Their 12-0 run (from 65-55 to 65-67) to open the fourth quarter was crucial.
After delivering a 34-point masterclass against the Italians last week, Jhivvan Jackson knocked down the game-winning pull-up shot off the dribble with a second left to play this week, taking the spotlight all for himself. Ultimately, Wurzburg's #56 finished with 21 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Playing only his second game in the Basketball Champions League, Aubrey Dawkins challenged his inner father Johnny - former NBA player in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Detroit, now experienced NCAA head coach - to give Wurzburg other dunking weapons at 18 points and 7 rebounds.
"We made a point in the locker room that we came here for our reasons. We didn't come here to play a game, make excuses and go home. We came here to win a basketball game so for us it was a big character win. We had to dig deep, pull ourselves together and do what we have been working on in practice, and put it on the court," Dawkins said, describing the situation in which Wurzburg only had eight healthy players available, and were without their coach Saso Filipovski due to illness.
After AEK Betsson BC's win on Tuesday against Derthona, there are now two teams at 2-0 in Group I. The unbeaten and winless sides will face off against each other after the February break.