MIES (Switzerland) - The Basketball Champions League saw the Play-Ins phase come to a close, as the last tickets to the Round of 16 were handed out on Wednesday evening.
The Play-Ins saw incredible action all over the continent, highlighted by Falco-Vulcano Szombathely's miracle halfcourt shot to force double overtime, and eventually propel the Hungarian champions to a dramatic win to take them to 2-1 against Maccabi Ramat-Gan.
That matchup was just a part of an incredible Play-In phase, as 17 of 20 games played in this stage finished with a margin by 10 points or less, seven of them being one-possession games.
Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola and Pallacanestro Reggiana were the only two lower seeds advancing, both sweeping their matchups even though Karsiyaka and Telekom Baskets Bonn had homecourt advantage, respectively.
Galatasaray, Aliaga Petkimspor, Falco-Vulcano Szombathely and Nanterre 92 advanced by winning the deciding Game 3s at home in their respective matchups, while Manisa Basket defeated NINERS Chemnitz 2-0 with a combined points difference of +4.
Bertram Derthona Basket put the ghosts of last season to bed. A year ago, they lost out to Galatasaray in this stage, this time around they had no troubles with Peristeri Domino's in two games.
The eight Play-In winners will now join the eight Regular Season group winners in the Round of 16.
Teams will be divided in four groups of four teams, facing off in a round-robin format, in home and away games. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Quarter-Finals.
GROUP I: FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets (GER); AEK Betsson BC (GRE); Promitheas Patras BC Vikos Cola (GRE); Bertram Derthona Basket (ITA)
GROUP J: Unicaja (ESP); Rytas Vilnius (LTU); Galatasaray (TUR); Manisa Basket (TUR)
GROUP K: La Laguna Tenerife (ESP); BAXI Manresa (ESP); Aliaga Petkimspor (TUR); Pallacanestro Reggiana (ITA)
GROUP L: ERA Nymburk (CZE); UCAM Murcia (ESP); Nanterre 92 (FRA); Falco-Vulcano Szombathely (HUN)
The Round of 16 tips off next week, with three games set on Tuesday, January 28, and five more on Wednesday, January 29.
The Quarter-Finals draw will be held after the Round of 16, and the group winners will have homecourt advantage in the best-of-three series.
The four Quarter-Finals winners will advance to the season ending Final Four tournament, to be held in May.