MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League Play-Ins is that stage of the season where anything can really happen, in such a short window.
On Tuesday, the first game ended with a sole dominator, while the second made fans witness a hard-fought battle. In the end, the two Turkish teams are now 1-0.
Galatasaray 84-63 Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball
Sometimes, David manages to beat Goliath even in his den. But on Tuesday, it wasn't the case.
Galatasaray's 84-63 victory to start the Play-In series against Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball was never in real doubt, as Yakup Sekizkok's men trailed for only 26 seconds of the game. For the rest of the evening, they were ahead of their visitors.
Leading even by 27 points (74-47) to start the fourth quarter, this was such a dominant display by the Lions.
The difference in values was showcased by the way teams shot the ball from the field. Galatasaray ended with a solid 54.24 percent (32-of-59), while Saint-Quentin only converted 34.29 percent of their shots (24-of-70).
James Palmer Jr. continued his scoring streak, finishing in double-digits in all of his BCL home appearances this season. He had 15 tonight, 13 of them in the third. Ebuka Izundu (17 points) and Will Cummings (14 points) joined him off the bench.
Game 2 will take place on Wednesday, January 15 at 20:00 CET, this time in France. If Galatasaray win on the road, they will join the Round of 16 Group J with Unicaja, Rytas Vilnius and the winner of the Manisa Basket vs NINERS Chemnitz matchup.
If SQBB protect their home court, there will be a Game 3 in Istanbul once again.
Aliaga Petkimspor 82-81 Hapoel Netanel Holon
Hapoel Netanel Holon know things aren't decided until the final buzzer, as they have already gone through several obstacles in their BCL experiences over the past few years.
That's why they couldn't be sure about Tuesday's outcome in the second half even when leading by 11 points. Aliaga Petkimspor, in Azerbaijan, indeed managed to produce a 6-0 run, getting back into the game.
In the end, joining Galatasaray, they became the second Turkish team able to get up 1-0 in their Play-In series this season, winning 82-81 against the Israeli side. Will Manisa Basket and Karsiyaka join them?
In Game 1 of this series, it was all about blocks. On one side, Michale Kyser became the all-time leader in shots blocked in the BCL; in the final seconds, Peyton Aldridge, Wesley Van Beck and Jaime Echenique stopped Yiftah Ziv and Jalen Adams to protect the slimmest of margins in the final score.
"We came with a good gameplan. Unfortunately, when you are losing 1 point here and 1 point there, it feels bad because the ball was in our hands and we couldn't create a shot, we turned the ball over. We try to take the positives from this game. It's a best-of-three and the next game, next Tuesday is crucial, it's a do-or-die game," Holon coach Guy Goodes said.
It was a pretty good night for the 28-year-old guard Van Beck, who had a season-high 24 points over 6-of-9 shooting from downtown. Jaime Echenique was a force at the rim with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Petkimspor fans can't wait to potentially finish things up next Tuesday, January 14 at 18:00 CET. If they can pull it off, they will face La Laguna Tenerife, BAXI Manresa, and the winner of the Play-In series between Telekom Baskets Bonn and Pallacanestro Reggiana in Group K of the Round of 16.
If Holon take Game 2, the series move back to Azerbaijan for Game 3.