MIES (Switzerland) - In different ways and moments of the two encounters, Manisa Basket and Nanterre 92 made life uncomfortable for Unicaja and UCAM Murcia.
But playing at home made the difference yet again.
Unicaja 91-73 Manisa Basket
The way the Turkish team erased the Spanish powerhouse's lead at the beginning of the second quarter, and how they put the pressure during the third, made everybody in the stands a bit worried.
Worried that what had become a trend - winning - could have flown away as a snap of the fingers, interrupting once and for all the longest-ever winning run in the BCL history.
However, the streak is on and lives with us. Unicaja got their 17th consecutive victory in this European competition, staying unbeaten in the 2024-25 season as reigning champions.
Mental strength and solidness were needed for Ibon Navarro's team to keep their composure and get over one of the surprises of the season, beating Manisa 91-73 to start the Round of 16.
With the second half becoming a scoring party for last season's BCL winners, 50 of Unicaja's total points come off the bench, including those put up by Killian Tillie's hot hands. He finished with 14 points, 4-of-6 from deep.
Talking about three-pointers, that also marked the difference between winning and losing in Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena: Unicaja (42.3%) were way better than Manisa (26.1%). They also shared the ball better, getting the 24-11 advantage in team assists.
Despite the defeat, Saben Lee had another night under the spotlight, constantly forced to take difficult shots as the main target by the purple-and-green defense. He concluded the night visibly tired, missing free throws late but still getting 19 points. Fabian White added 23 points and 8 rebounds for Manisa.
Don't make plans for next week, as Group J will feature a Turkish derby between Manisa and Galatasaray. This week's winners - Rytas Vilnius and Unicaja - will also face off.
UCAM Murcia 95-84 Nanterre 92
There's no real place like home, right? UCAM Murcia know it well.
Beating Nanterre 92 in front of their fans 95-84 doesn't only mean getting a first victory in this season's Round of 16, but also extending their home-victory streak in this stage of the competition, now at eight games.
Collectively, they have now won 26 of their last 28 home games in the BCL. Talking about friendly walls.
While it may sound unlikely, a win for the hosts wasn't taken for granted since the game's tip-off, as Philippe Da Silva's team fed off their energy coming from the Play-Ins and led 24-16 after the first quarter.
The approach to the second and third quarters made everybody aware of a completely different UCAM in Murcia's Palacio de los Deportes, scoring 61 points over these twenty minutes.
In a game that especially meant battling under the rim, with Murcia (42) and Nanterre (44) combining for 86 points in the paint, the impact on the perimeter made the difference.
Therefore, the performances forged by Ludvig Hakanson (16 points over 5-of-6 from three and 5 assists) and Dylan Ennis (18 points) put a smile on Sito Alonso's face. Hakanson was emotional after the game.
"First of all I want to dedicate this win to my grandfather who passed away during the game. He was the one who brought basketball to my family. Thanks to him, me and my parents, my brother, my sisters, everybody played basketball thanks to him," the Swedish guard said.
With Nemanja Radovic (14 points and 8 rebounds), he contributed to the home side's 47 total points off the bench on Wednesday.
"I am very happy for Ludde because he played an incredible game in a very important personal moment for him. About the game, it's not easy to start the Round of 16 in the Basketball Champions League with a home game because you have the pressure and you need to win. Maybe we don't know this Nanterre team very well but we could see in their last game against Bourg that this is a very dangerous team and we will need to be even more solid than tonight when we go there," coach Sito Alonso explained.
The French side got carried by the Ahmad Caver-Desi Rodriguez duo, combining for 31 points.