MIES (Switzerland) - Tuesday's action in Week 9 of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season wasn't only about madness in Groups E and G, as another game captured everybody's attention.
Tenerife defeated Karsiyaka, as they joined Unicaja and ERA Nymburk as group winners and already qualified for the Round of 16, all with a 5-0 record.
Bertram Derthona Basket are also at 5-0, but still haven't confirmed their spot among the sweet 16, while the 2023 champions Telekom Baskets Bonn are also just inches away from making it through.
La Laguna Tenerife 85-82 Karsiyaka
Coach Txus Vidorreta wanted his players to have ice in their veins to book a ticket to this season's Round of 16, and La Laguna Tenerife put any worrying thoughts to bed with an 85-82 home victory against Karsiyaka.
This is the Ninthy Symphony season of the BCL, and also the ninth appearance by Tenerife, and their ninth qualification to the Round of 16.
May we remind you that Marcelinho Huertas will turn 42 in May 2025? Well, he's not showing any signs of slowing down, he had 18 points and 7 assists on Tuesday in a decisive matchup to advance.
The Brazilian playmaking master even grabbed a clutch offensive rebound to secure his team's win over Karsiyaka, putting a smile on coach Vidorreta's face, as this win meant Tenerife avoided potential Play-In complications.
"We did it, we are in the top 16, and we are very happy - especially me because we don't have to play the Play-Ins and in my condition three games less and one trip less is great for us," the 58-year-old playcaller said.
Errick McCollum tried his best to avoid defeat with a personal season-high of 27 points - 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter - followed by teammates Daron Russell (17 points) and James Webb III (16 points).
Tim Abromaitis made history tonight, becoming the first-ever player to win 75 games in the Basketball Champions League. The experienced forward is now also 11 points away from becoming the seventh player in the competition's history to score 900 or more points.
Tenerife are now 6-1 all-time against Karsiyaka, and this was their 24th home win in a row in the BCL, a streak started in the Play-Ins against Karsiyaka back in January 2022.
The Turkish team had a brief lead in the fourth quarter, and a chance to send the game to overtime, but Sean McDermott's long range attempt fell short as time expired. Ufuk Sarica's men will now focus on protecting their second place as they take on Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball next week.
Maccabi Ramat-Gan 95-84 AEK Betsson BC
In basketball, nothing's granted until the final buzzer. That's a lesson for every hooper out there, but most importantly something that AEK Betsson BC should hang up in their locker room as Ted Lasso's "Believe".
The Queen entered the final ten minutes in the Viceucelova Hala Opava with a slight two-point lead (69-67), but from then on Maccabi Ramat-Gan took over with a 10-0 run.
They went all the way to a 95-84 victory thanks to Kendale McCullum's efficiency rating of 36, including 23 points, 7 steals, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
Amin Stevens has now scored more than 15 points in each of his last five BCL games with Maccabi, continuing his brilliant form with 24 points and 7 rebounds on Tuesday.
Hunter Hale tried to put on an old-fashioned offensive showdown of his own, but #77's 17 points weren't enough on the day.
It was a double win for Maccabi, as they also erased a nine-point defeat to AEK from Gameday 1. In case both teams finish at 3-3, the Israelis will be ahead of AEK in the standings.
Telekom Baskets Bonn 78-75 VEF Riga
Welcoming its fans at Bonn's Telekom Dome knowing the first result of Tuesday's program, Telekom Baskets Bonn were eager to take advantage against VEF Riga, possibly standing on top of Group E at the end of the day.
Conducting for the whole encounter, they survived the Latvians' comeback with a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter and managed to pull out a 78-75 win. They also survived Harrison Cleary's 29-point (7-of-11 from deep) parade.
This is now the first time that Bonn have won four games in a row in the BCL since their run from April to October 2023. That was the span when they won the BCL at the Final Four in Malaga, Spain.
They were enjoying TJ Shorts II's clutch moves back then, they are enjoying Darius McGhee's now, as he had the game-winning layup with 13 seconds left.
Bonn outscored VEF in bench-scoring contribution (30 vs 15), but the game's highest scorers were starters: Bodie Hume (15 points and 9 rebounds), Phlandrous Fleming Jr (14 points), and Thomas Kennedy (double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds).
Bonn are now leading the group at 4-1, and know the only way they can lose the top spot is if AEK defeats them by 20 points or more in Athens next week.
At the bottom with a 1-4 record, a tough challenge - as in winning by eight points - awaits the Latvian powerhouse in their Week 10 matchup against Maccabi in order to advance.
NINERS Chemnitz 61-77 Bertram Derthona Basket
It's only their second season in the Basketball Champions League, but one thing is as clear as the brightest sky now: Bertram Derthona Basket play already like an established veteran of this competition.
Being eliminated in last season's Play-Ins, they are this close to avoiding them this season, entering Week 10 of the Regular Season on an unbeaten 5-0 roll by beating the NINERS Chemnitz 77-61.
To do so, Christian Vital stood by his name, once again. The American guard had the fifth consecutive game with 12 or more points, finishing at 16 in this road win in Germany. Tommy Kuhse, who played against Chemnitz last year as a member of RASTA Vechta, helped with 13 points and 7 assists.
The Italians were on point in all situations, as summed up by Walter De Raffaele in the post-game press conference.
"As I said to the players, we played really connected and focused on our stuff offensively and defensively. We need to keep going and get continuity," Derthona's head coach commented.
Dominating the paint was a must for the guests, who heavily relied on Ismael Kamagate. Rightfully so, as the French gem put up 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Collectively, Derthona scored 40 paint points.
The hosts got 23 points came off the bench, 19 of them were credited to Olivier Nkamhoua, who was his team's highest scorer. Facing SL Benfica on the road, who are still winless after Tuesday as we will see in a bit, the German team will fight for a Play-In spot next week.
SL Benfica 80-91 BAXI Manresa
Derthona first did their job and then tuned into SL Benfica vs BAXI Manresa, crossing their fingers: all they needed was an upset by the Portuguese champions, who led for three quarters against the Spaniards.
However, the Italian team's dreams of qualification in Week 9 were quickly shattered by some of Manresa's perfect-branded basketball in the final ten minutes of the encounter in Lisbon's Pavilhao Fidelidade. When the final buzzer sounded, they won 91-80 on the road.
Between the reverse fixture and Tuesday's game, Derrick Alston Jr. has combined for 48 points, adding 23 to his previous 25 against SL Benfica. He shot 62.5 percent from beyond the arc too.
Emanuel Cate had a perfect shooting night, getting home from Portugal with 12 points over 4-of-4 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Benfica, who led for 32:40 minutes before running out of gas, couldn't match up in both points in the paint (46-32) and points from the bench (45-26) against Diego Ocampo's team. Nicolas Carvacho tried to make an impact with 14 points and 8 rebounds, but his team came out with another home defeat.
Manresa are still a win behind Derthona at the top of the standings. Next week, they will need to defeat the Italians by 17 points or more to advance to the Regular Season, all other results send Derthona through and push Manresa to Play-Ins.
Benfica are not out yet, but they need to find a 28-point win or better against Chemnitz to avoid elimination.