MIES (Switzerland) - Lenovo Tenerife grabbed a 1-0 Quarter-Finals lead over Tofas Bursa behind another sublime Marcelinho Huertas masterclass in an 83-77 win. Unicaja made no mistake against Promitheas Patras to remain unbeaten at home this season, taking a 67-54 triumph in front of their fans in Malaga, Spain.

Tenerife and Tofas met  in the Quarter-Finals for the first time two seasons ago, with the Spanish side getting the closest possible 2-0 series win, on a pair of single-point wins thanks to late-game magic by their Brazilian point guard.

It was all just a little bit of history repeating on Wednesday night in San Cristobal de La Laguna. Tofas refused to give up, trailing the hosts by a single-point, 73-72 with just over two minutes left to play, but all that did was provoke another clutch reaction by Marcelinho.

The 40-year-old connected on a two-pointer, followed it up with an assist, and made another two-pointer and a pair of free-throws to finish the game with 6 points over the last 2:30.

 
He counted to 30 on the day and put up back-to-back 30-point performances, since he'd signed out on the Round of 16 phase with 31 points against Peristeri. He's had four games of 20 or more points this season, after not getting a single one in his first 65 BCL appearances.

Huertas also dished out 8 assists on Wednesday, but the only other player in double digits for coach Txus Vidorreta was Giorgi Shermadini with 18 points, on 10-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line.

Tofas got 21 points from JJ O'Brien, Cassius Winston scored 20, but the Bursa side need to win Game 2 in Türkiye to stay alive in the best-of-three series next week.

 
In the last game of the day, Unicaja led from start to finish against Promitheas, claiming a 1-0 series lead, and inching closer to their second Final Four in the Basketball Champions League.

The biggest Unicaja lead was 24 points, but Promitheas played their hearts out to fight back and cut the deficit to 6 with just five minutes left on the game clock. Unicaja found the antidote, building a defensive wall and holding Promitheas to just 7 points the rest of the way, while scoring 14 of their own.

It was a trademark Ibon Navarro-team performance, with 11 players seeing playing time - nobody with fewer than 11 minutes on the court and nobody with more than 26. Kendrick Perry added another fine display this  season with 13 points, Dylan Osetkowski posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, Yankuba Sima also scored 12, while Tyson Carter got 10 on the night.

 
Promitheas saw both of their high-profile scorers in double digits, but 25 points combined by Hunter Hale and Anthony Cowan were way below what was needed to steal a road game in Malaga.

The second games of these two series will be played in Türkiye and Greece next week. The teams that reach two wins first will advance to the Final Four in Belgrade, Serbia.