MIES (Switzerland) - Following ERA Nymburk's and Unicaja's majestic nights on Tuesday, nobody booked their spot in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 on Wednesday. But what a night it was, starting from the very first matchup in Türkiye all the way to the last one in France.
Manisa Basket 72-78 UCAM Murcia
Closing out on last season with a third-place finish at the Final Four, UCAM Murcia wanted to impress right away entering this season - but Saben Lee had other plans.
His 36-point "Welcome to the Basketball Champions League" performance gave Manisa a shocking win in their first clash in October. On Wednesday, Sito Alonso's team had the opportunity to serve the coldest of revenges.
The Spaniards had to win by seven points or more to secure their ticket to the Round of 16 with a game in hand, but they only managed to beat Manisa by six, 78-72, tying the head-to-head between these two teams.
"The atmosphere of our team throughout the 40 minutes was crazy. We did very, very well. Even in the bad moments when they got close, we kept our patience and made the right choices", coach Alonso reacted in the post-game press conference.
Jonah Radebaugh had one of those nights from beyond the arc, shooting 5-of-9 and ultimately getting 19 points on the scoreboard. Dylan Ennis (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists) gave UCAM Murcia six-point leads twice with less than one minute to play. But that ultimately wasn't enough to book a Sweet 16 spot. Yet.
Murcia are now a win ahead of Manisa at the top of the standings. They'll be through to the Round of 16 if they defeat Peristeri Domino's in Spain in two weeks' time, and even a defeat could keep them in the first place in Group H, as long as they have the better total points difference than Manisa.
The Turkish club had everybody in the Muradiye Sports Hall waiting for Saben Lee (6pts, 2-of-10 from the field) to deliver, but Hugo Besson emerged as Manisa's go-to guy: he had 27 points in a perfect night from the free throw line (6-of-6).
Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola 78-86 RASTA Vechta
RASTA Vechta had their backs against the wall entering Week 8: with yet a game to win in this Regular Season, another defeat would have meant early elimination. Never underestimate their orange heart, though.
Martin Schiller's team allowed less than 88 points for the first time this season and found a collective effort to escape from Greece with an 86-78 victory. They were simply astonishing on second-chance opportunities, scoring 28 points on such occasions while grabbing 31 (!) offensive rebounds.
"I think all the BCL games are physical. That's the one thing we notice playing these games. But for us to get 31 offensive rebounds and 28 second-chance points from them, that's huge, so shout out to all the guys that did that", Mike Bothwell commented.
The Jayden Gardner-Brandon Randolph duo was huge for RASTA, as the former got a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds, while the latter led his team with 29 points. Johann Grunloh won't forget about tonight either: he tied the mark for the most blocks (7) in a single Basketball Champions League game.
The 19-year-old wunderkind joined Sean Denison, Octavius Ellis, Jerry Boutsiele and Emanuel Cate as the fifth man with 7 blocks in game, and he also had 8 points and 11 rebounds on the day.
Rytas Vilnius 94-84 Pallacanestro Reggiana
Dinner was almost ready when this game was about to conclude in regulation and you didn't have time to come back to it? Don't worry, we have you covered: because that ending was a wild one.
In a packed Twinsbet Arena in Vilnius, Pallacanestro Reggiana managed to find the lead entering the final minutes of the fourth quarter, and with 1.2 seconds left on the game clock, Cassius Winston let it fly with a floater. Job done, right? Well, Savion Flagg quickly answered, and the game went to overtime at 81-81.
In added time, the Lithuanians embraced their fans' support to go all the way to the final buzzer with the upper hand at 94-84.
The final margin of 10 points means Rytas Vilnius and Pallacanestro Reggiana are now in a similar situation as Manisa and Murcia. The Lithuanian champions are one win ahead, and even if they lose their last Regular Season game, they can still finish ahead of the Italians, as long they have the better overall points difference.
It was the usual collective effort for the red-and-black team, with Jayvon Graves and Gytis Radzevicius putting up 16 points each.
Cassius Winston's majestic 26-point night wasn't enough for the visitors, neither was Stephane Gombauld's dominant double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds. Next time, they might be helped by Kenneth Faried - out this week after a minor injury in his first practice with the team.
Nanterre 92 78-83 Igokea m:tel
Igokea m:tel had to win on the road to avoid an early elimination in Group A. Well, simple as that: they did so. In fact, they just love the matchup with Nanterre, they went 2-12 over their last 14 BCL games, but both of those wins came against the green-and-white team from France.
Wednesday's last scheduled game was perfectly split into two halves, as Nanterre 92 led for the whole first half but lost a ten-point lead. From halftime, it was a completely different story.
Igokea escaped by not letting the French opponents score a single bucket in the first 3:21 minutes of the second half and eventually survived the late attempt of a comeback by their hosts.
After scoring 15 or more points in three of his four games with the BIH team this season, Bryce Jones still led Igokea in scoring, but stopped at 14 - facing a difficult night controlling the ball with 8 turnovers.
Desi Rodriguez keeps on being one to watch this season, ending his fifth consecutive game in double-digits. On Wednesday, against his former Limoges teammate Bryce Jones, he had 20 points.
With two teams at 3-2, and two at 2-3, a four-way tie at 3-3 is possible at the end of the action in Group A.