MIES (Switzerland) - On Tuesday, we had the third confirmed team qualified for the 9th edition of the Basketball Champions League Round of 16, while Wednesday was only about condemnations rather than celebrations: both WKS Slask Wroclaw and Kolossos H Hotels will finish last in their groups, no matter the results next week.
Falco-Vulcano Szombathely 67-74 WKS Slask Wroclaw
Entering Week 9, WKS Slask Wroclaw had only one goal in mind: to win by 10+ points against Falco-Vulcano Szombathely after losing 84-75 in Poland back on Gameday 1, which would mean they get the tie-breaker, and avoid elimination.
For more than 20 minutes during Wednesday's game, the Polish team thought they could have been successful in their task, leading by 16 points (51-35) with 7:25 minutes to play in the third quarter.
However, the yellow-and-black team answered back and reduced the gap to seven points (74-67), keeping the opponents out of contention for a spot in the Play-Ins.
"Thank you to our fans. They were amazing, especially at the moment when we were underwater. When we had some problems, and we were down by 16. They gave us power, but also we didn't lose our heads, showed the character to come back. I think in the end we deserved to make it to the Play-Ins," Falco's head coach Milos Konakov said.
Ajdin Penava never scored less than 10 points this BCL campaign, except for the reverse fixture at home against Falco. On Wednesday, he got a bittersweet revenge, leading with 18 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.
Collectively, Aleksandar Joncevski's team shot very well from downtown with 9-of-19 three-pointers made.
The Hungarian side's difficult night became even worse as Zoltan Perl couldn't keep up with his 20-point stretch that had lasted for five consecutive games already. He only had 15 on a solid two-point shooting night at 58.3 percent.
At this point, Falco is certain to continue their path in the Play-Ins - and can also finish in 2nd with a win in Italy on Week 10. Both Rytas Vilnius and Pallacanestro Reggiana could still win the group, depending on their results next week.
(1)Qualified for Play-Ins
Kolossos H Hotels 75-86 Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball
An even tougher challenge was awaiting Kolossos H Hotels in Rhodes' Kallithea Indoor Hall, as the Greek team needed to win over Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball to avoid elimination, but also win by more than 30 points to get the tiebreaker. In their first matchup, the French team prevailed 84-54.
Ultimately, the hosts weren't successful, losing their fifth consecutive game in the BCL, sitting alone at the bottom of the table in Group C. Saint-Quentin, instead, came back to winning ways at 86-75.
Nolan Traore showed why he is the guy to watch with no hesitation attacking the rim on several occasions against the Greek team, confirming himself with 14 points.
When Kolossos came to within five points in the final quarter, Traore responded with six straight points and an assist to send the margin back to double digits.
The 2006-born point guard had an astonishing Basketball Champions League debut with 27 points in the first win over Kolossos in Week 1. Everybody wants his jersey too, apparently.
He was a factor off the bench for Julien Mahe's team, just like the highest scorer Jerome Robinson, finishing with 23 points. Saint-Quentin had 59 of their final 86 points from non-starters.
"We struggled in the second half, but also because of the quality of Kolossos. They were able to make some very good plays and hit some important shots, but we found a win for us which also means we qualify for the Play-Ins which is a good achievement for our club, because you know we are newcomers in this competition," coach Mahe explained after the game.
Kolossos basically never stood a chance, leading for only 40 seconds on Wednesday in front of their fans, who were still pleased by Andrew Goudelock's vintage 23-point night over 9-of-14 from the field.
(1)Qualified for Round of 16 (2)Qualified for Play-Ins