04 October, 2022
14 May, 2023
00 Rodions Kurucs (SIG)
25/01/2023
Review
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Seven takeaways from Tuesday: Strasbourg make 100th Game memorable

MIES (Switzerland) - SIG Strasbourg became the third team in BCL history to play 100 games, following Lenovo Tenerife and AEK. On their triple digit game, they played a classic, double overtime game against Hapoel Atsmon Holon.

Meanwhile, Galatasaray Nef defeated Limoges CSP; BAXI Manresa protected home court against Rytas Vilnius, and the defending champs were knocking down big shots from deep to take down UCAM Murcia. For all of the news, here are our Seven Takeaways, the usual feature in Season Seven.

#1 Strasbourg's milestone game

Coach Luca Banchi probably talked about history in his pre-game team-talk. After all, he got to coach SIG Strasbourg's 100th BCL game, and he probably added a little something in terms of motivation, because Hapoel Atsmon Holon were the team that knocked SIG Strasbourg out last season.

The two played an amazing game, instant classic, spreading over 50 minutes of basketball with heroic moves all over the floor. Whether it was Chris Johnson's big shots, CJ Harris' clutch and-one, Marcus Keene's big three-pointer to send the game to OT, or DeAndre Lansdowne's game-winning plays.

Holon missed on a potential go-ahead triple in the final minute of the second overtime. The ball bounced perfectly for a SIG Strasbourg fast break, and Lansdowne put it up off the glass and through the net with just 1.6 left on the game clock.

 
Holon tried to go for the win, getting Hayden Dalton the ball to go for the three, but Lansdowne showed up once more, getting the block for the win. Final score? 112-110 Strasbourg.

With 112 points on the night, Strasbourg scored more here than in their previous 99 games in the BCL, and their 43 field goals made are a BCL season-high.

Lansdowne finished with 24 points, Keene had 23 with 8 assists, Paul Lacombe scored 20 off the bench. Joe Ragland's 27 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists go to waste for the Israeli champions.

#2 Holon's high scoring

With 222 points on the night, this was the third highest scoring game in BCL history. The one with the most points also saw Hapoel Atsmon Holon in action, because the all-time mark says 227 points, when Holon faced Polski Cukier Torun and defeated them 122-105 on the road in Poland.

That was back in October 2019. The entire team changed, the entire coaching staff changed from Stefanos Dedas to Guy Goodes, but the high-scoring culture remains with the purple-and-gold Israeli squad.

#3 Bruno Fitipaldo flirting with a record

Lenovo Tenerife defeated UCAM Murcia 85-65, sending out a clear message that this is their competition and their home. The defending champs knocked down 14-of-28 shots from beyond the arc, and Bruno Fitipaldo was inches away from an all-time record in the BCL.

He entered the final minute of the game shooting 6-of-6 from the three-point range, and had a play set up for him to take the seventh three-pointer. It did not fall, breaking his run of 100 percent shooting from deep in this game.


Had he made that last shot, he would've become the first player to hit seven threes in a game without a single miss. This way, the record still stands at 6-of-6 shooting for most threes without a miss in a BCL game, held by two men. Michele Vitali played for Brose Bamberg when he hit six threes in six tries back in 2020-21, and he did it against Casademont Zaragoza.

That same Zaragoza was on the other end of the same record, because Jonathan Barreiro hit 6-of-6 against Dinamo BDS Sassari, also in 2020-21.

#4 Galatasaray's new guys are good

During the break, Galatasaray Nef changed their looks. Dee Bost is no longer in town, and coach Andreas Pistiolis got to see Daron Russell and Dusan Ristic fly into Istanbul.

Both of them were on fire in their first game with Galata, Russell knocking down five threes to get a game-high 20 points, Ristic putting together an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double in just 19 minutes of work.


The last man to get at least 15 points and 10 rebounds in less than 20 minutes? Former Galatasaray man, DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, author of those numbers in just 18:57 of playing time back when he was with Tofas Bursa in January 2021.

With Ristic and Russell contributing, Galatasaray Nef defeated Limoges CSP 100-73. It was only the second time they scored 100+ points in a BCL game.

#5 No Desi Rodriguez, no boards

Desi Rodriguez has been one of the most impressive rebounders of the year, but without him, Limoges were an undersized team that had no chance against the aggressive hosts in Istanbul.

Limoges finished with 13 defensive rebounds and 22 total rebounds, both being the lowest numbers by any team in the entire BCL this season.

"This was our first game in the Round of 16 and it was like the first day of school. And if you can't yet write with the pencil, at least you're not supposed to eat the pencil," coach Massimo Cancellieri described his team's efforts.

Same as in school, next week will be a bit easier. It must be, because Limoges have an uphill battle against Galatasaray, Unicaja and AEK in Group K.

#6 Devin flying towards the heaven

BAXI Manresa defeated Rytas Vilnius 82-69 at home, and it was their first win in 2023, ending a string of four straight defeats in January. The roster has changed completely compared to the start of the season, and air traffic control will have their hands full with Devin Ray Robinson.


The high-flying forward made his BCL debut with 18 points, a team-high, including a number of highlight plays and a dunk that might just be in the run for the dunk of the season.

Manresa are still soul searching, but at least they are having fun doing it with guys like Devin.

#7 Have to be locked in mentally

For Rytas Vilnius, suffering a 13-point defeat wasn't the best news of all time. However, they lost by just 13 points in Manresa, when it looked like they could be in for a blowout.

They opened up the game with a seven-point lead, and Marcus Foster did his thing. But even his 25 points weren't enough, because the only other player in double figures was Elvar Fridriksson with 12.


If you had any doubts about Rytas not being locked in, just look at the layup attempt here. Instead of finishing the quarter with a lead, they never got the lead back after this. Luckily for them, there is no time to cry over missed layups, they've got back-to-back games in Vilnius, against Bahcesehir College and Telekom Baskets Bonn, perfect opportunity to wash this defeat away and get to the February break at 2-1.