MIES (Switzerland) - Did you know that Dijon tied this week a record held by another French team, a Spanish team set a new record and that giants have an Achilles’s heel?

Find out all that and more as we have an alternative look at some facts and stats from this week's action!

1. The French Connection

JDA Dijon emerged as the sole leader of Group D on Wednesday thanks to their 89-75 road win at Neptunas Klaipeda. The victory has added added significance for the French club, albeit symbolic, as this is the first time in their BCL history that Dijon have won two consecutive games.

By contrast, EB Pau-Lacq-Orthez became on Tuesday following their 90-75 defeat to RASTA Vechta at home only the second French team to lose their first two games in the BCL, after SIG Strasbourg in 2016-17.

Dijon made all 10 of their shots from the foul stripe during the game in Klaipeda, becoming the first team in the competition to hit 100% of their free-throws (on a minimum of 10 attempts) since January 2019, when another French team, Nanterre, also went 10 of 10 from the line against Telekom Baskets Bonn.

2. A Breath of Fresh Burgos

The city of Burgos is known in Spain for its cathedral, which dates back almost eight centuries, but its young basketball team is disrupting established institutions in its maiden participation in a European competition.

San Pablo scored 110 points in its Tuesday victory over Anwil, which is the most points for a Spanish team in a BCL game and the most in the competition since Hapoel Jerusalem beat Nymburk 111-80 in January 2019.

Meanwhile no player ever came off the bench in a BCL game and grabbed more rebounds than Jasiel Rivero, who collected 16 boards against Anwil and tied the record of Darion Atkins, who had 16 for UNET Holon against Reyer Venezia in October 2018.

Cuban big man Riviero has only played in Europe in BCL games, as he arrived in the off-season from the Argentinian league and is still not registered in the Liga Endesa due to the Spanish league’s regulations on the maximum allowed number of non-EU players.

3. Die-Hard AEK

AEK’s 85-78 loss at Hapoel Jerusalem on Wednesday marks the first time the Athens team lost a game by more than five points in the BCL Regular Season since January 2018, when they fell 78-71 to Teksüt Bandirma. It’s also the first time that AEK lost a game in the Regular Season despite leading at half-time since Gameday 1 last season against… Hapoel Jerusalem (75-79).

Howard Sant-Roos collected in Jerusalem his first double-double in the BCL since October 2016 (with ERA Nymburk against Ironi Nahariya). He is the first player with at least 10 points, at least 10 rebounds and at least 5 assists in the 2019-20 season.

Keith Langford became the 4th player to score at least 27 points in consecutive games in the BCL and only the second one to do so in his first two games in the competition, after Malcolm Hill in October 2017 (Nick Minnerath in November 2016 and Kevin Punter in February 2018 also scored 27+ points in consecutive BCL games).

4.  The Achilles’ Hill of Giants 

Telenet Giants Antwerp attempted 48 free-throws in their 93-90 win over Bandirma on Wednesday, which is the joint-most free-throws in a BCL game. UCAM Murcia are the only other team to have attempted as many shots from the stripe, against Nizhny Novgorod in January 2019.

Antwerp missed 16 of those 48 free-throws and had missed 9 of 17 free-throws on opening night, in a loss to San Pablo Burgos. This means that the Giants have missed a total of 25 shots from the foul line, more than any other team so far this season. 

Anwil’s free-throw shooting (55 percent) is worse than Antwerp’s (58.5 percent) is worse in terms of percentage, but the Polish team has only missed a total of 18 free throws. 

Luckily for Antwerp, free-throw shooting is not everything. Ibrahima Fall Faye has been shooting a mere 58% from the line but on Wednesday the young big man became the first player in the BCL to register a double-double in points and rebounds (16 and 10, respectively) with also adding at least 3 steals and at least 3 blocks.

5. Swiss Army Knives

 
Adrian Banks of Happy Casa Brindisi, who made the Team of the Week thanks to his 31 points and 9 rebounds against Bonn, is the first player to score at least 30 points and bring down at least 9 rebounds in a BCL game with no overtime since Adas Juskevicius of Nanterre against Reyer Venezia in November 2018. The Lithuanian also had 31 points and 9 rebounds in that game.

Damian Kulig of Polski Cukier Torun had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists in is team’s win over SIG Strasbourg. This was the first game in 40 appearances in the BCL for the Polish international in which he had 10+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists.

James McAdoo of Besiktas, Chris Wright of Torun and Zach Hankins of ERA Nymburk have posted double-doubles in their first two BCL games. Prior to those three, the only two players to register a double-double in each of their first two games in the BCL were Howard Sant-Roos in 2016-17 and Babacar Touré in 2018-19.