MIES (Switzerland) - Francesco Tabellini and ERA Nymburk have done the unthinkable, surprising everybody by pulling their fifth straight victory in this year's BCL campaign. They have now officially made it to the Round of 16 as group winners - even more impressive as they had to go through the BCL Qualifying Rounds in September.
But they weren't the only ones reaching the sweet 16, as the defending champions Unicaja joined them later on Tuesday night.
Aliaga Petkimspor 90-63 King Szczecin
What's a perfect week for a basketball team fighting to qualify for the next phase? Well, if that team convincingly wins its game and its contending opponents drop a loss somewhere else.
It was indeed a perfect Week 8 for Aliaga Petkimspor, winning by 27 points (93-60) at home against King Szczecin while Filou Oostende, their rivals in the battle for the second place in Group B, couldn't pull off the upset in Malaga.
The deadly backcourt duo of Breein Tyree and DeWayne Russell didn't disappoint, as they combined for 27 points and 12 assists on Tuesday afternoon. Some of those passes found Wesley Van Beck's (16 points) and Peyton Aldrige's (14 points) hot hands, as they shot 3-of-5 and 4-of-5 from deep, respectively.
It was a part of a three-point party for the Turkish hosts, who collectively shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from distance.
Isaiah Whitehead's 13-point in a losing effort was not enough for the Polish team to win their first-ever game on the road in the BCL. Kassim Nicholson came off the bench and almost delivered a double-double with 10 points and 8 rebounds - adding 4 assists, too.
Arkadiusz Miloszewski's team is now officially out of contention from both the Round of 16 and Play-Ins. They part ways with the BCL for this season with a home game against Unicaja on December 17.
Hapoel Netanel Holon 71-69 FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets
Taking a look at the lead tracker graphic from this game, you could really say basketball gods had picked one specific outcome. FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets even went up by 14 points (46-32) entering the third quarter.
However, Hapoel Netanel Holon found a way to come back into contention. They won the game 71-69, despite leading the game for just 4:44 minutes. Wurzburg, on the other side, led for 30:38 minutes and lost the game. That's a cruel sport.
Elijah Mitrou-Long was one of the two game heroes for Holon, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer late in the game, and recording his BCL season-high with 21 points, 11 of them coming in the final stanza.
The other hero was Michale Kyser, getting the and-one layup to make it a two-possession game in the final minute, while also recording his 73rd career block in the BCL. He is now tied at the top of the all-time list with TaShawn Thomas, another ex-Holon player.
"That's what I told my players, effort and character beats talent and I'm really happy for the guys that did everything they needed, especially in the 4th quarter that we won 22-11 and each one of them stayed on the floor more than 10 minutes and they were very tired. This win belonged to the players and I'm really happy for the fans in Israel and the organization. Nobody believed we could win with this roster, but this is the beauty in sports and that is why we are in this business because of these games," Holon coach Guy Goodes was ecstatic after the win.
Wurzburg had a chance of reaching the Round of 16 with a win in this game, but their 8-of-31 shooting from three-point range was never going to be enough. They protected their head-to-head lead, meaning they would finish ahead of Holon in case of a tie at the end of the Regular Season.
Zac Seljaas had another good showing with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Jhivvan Jackson had the same scoring amount, but went close to a double-double by sharing 9 assists.
Peristeri Domino's 72-66 FMP SoccerBet
Peristeri Domino's had their backs against the wall entering this week: losing against FMP SoccerBet at home would have meant being eliminated from every contention in Group H.
The Greek team, which finished 4th in last year's Final Four in Belgrade, had two convincing quarters to start the first (27-21) and second (14-6) halves. This was enough to secure a 72-66 victory over the Serbs, who are still alive as they lost by less than 12 points, and own the tiebreaker over Peristeri in case of a tie.
Both teams relied on points from the paint (Peristeri 40 out of 72, FMP 36 out of 66), but Peristeri had the most dominant player nearby the rim: Chris Coffey picked up a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for the hosts. Off the bench, the 2006-born gem Neoklis Avdalas finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds.
FMP got 18 points from Filip Barna, but they are down at 1-4 ahead of the final Gameday.
Unicaja 98-82 Filou Oostende
Yes, the reigning champs have done it. Again. By making history.
Unicaja celebrated in front of an excited Martin Carpena Arena, beating Filou Oostende 98-82 to get to the Round of 16. Not only that, Ibon Navarro's team has now overcome AS Monaco as the team with the longest winning streak in BCL history, as this was their 15th consecutive victory.
It turned into reality with the usual collective effort put in by Malaga's heroes, as all 12 players on the roster scored at least one bucket. Tyson Carter lead the way with 17 points in just 19 minutes of work.
The Belgian champions never led throughout the whole encounter, but they never gave up, staying attached and cutting the gap to 78-71 in the final quarter. But a quick 5-0 Unicaja run put the game out of their reach.
While Unicaja know they are through to the Round of 16 Group J, alongside Group F winners and two other teams from the Play-Ins (D2 vs C3, H2 vs G3), Oostende will have to fight for the second spot in the group.
They need a win by four points or more against Aliaga Petkimspor in Belgium to get the home court advantage against the third-placed team from Group A in the Play-Ins in January.