17 October, 2023
05 May, 2024
3 Chasson Randle (AEK)
25/10/2023
Review
to read

The Great Eight: Randle's five threes fuel AEK's comeback from -19

MIES (Switzerland) - The eighth season of the Basketball Champions League continued on Wednesday with impressive individual performances all over the continent. In line with this being Season 8, we picked the eight best numbers of the day.

First things first, here are the results of the day:

  • Bursaspor Info Yatirim (0-2) v Telekom Baskets Bonn (1-0) 73-91
  • Cholet Basket (1-1) v VEF Riga (0-2) 74-73
  • Banco di Sardegna Sassari (0-2) v AEK BETSSON BC (2-0) 79-83

And now, here are the best numbers of the day:

Most points

VEF Riga tried to pull off a massive comeback in France and everybody thought the game was heading into overtime, but a an extra point had been added to their score in error. The review by the referees and the table officials that followed the final buzzer identified and corrected the error and  there was no overtime.

However, Riga still had the top scorer of the day. Maris Gulbis led the comeback with 23 points off the bench, on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. It was not enough, VEF Riga dropped to 0-2 in the group standings.

Most rebounds

VEF Riga's Arnaldo Toro Barea, Telekom Baskets Bonn's Savion Flagg and AEK BETSSON BC's Ioannis Kouzeloglou all grabbed 8 rebounds on the day. Flagg enjoyed a blowout win in Turkey, with a superhero block also to his name.

 

Most assists

Cholet held on for a win, and TJ Campbell hit a big three late in the game to get to 9 points. Turns out, he was one point short of a double-double because he also had 11 assists on the day, done in 29 minutes with just one turnover.

Most steals

Jalen Jones played just 16 minutes in Cholet's win, but he made his minutes count by stealing the ball three times in a win. Banco di Sardegna Sassari's Stanley Whittaker struggled shooting the ball, going 2-of-9 from the field, but he made up for it with 3 steals on the defensive end.

Most blocks

Bursaspor are having a hard time adjusting to the BCL pace, falling to 0-2 in their first two games, but at least they've got one of the best performing big guys of the entire league.

Johnathan Hamilton blocked a total of 4 shots facing the defending champions Telekom Baskets Bonn in Turkey on Wednesday. That's more blocks than any other team on the day.

Best +/-

Jordan McRae was one of the heroes of the week. There are some players who get to +20 territory in a blowout win, but AEK were a +23 team with Jordan on the floor in what was a four-point win.


McRae finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, all done in less than 23 minutes of work.

Honorable mention: Christian Sengfelder, doing a bit of everything for the defending champs Bonn, 7 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, +16 in 26 minutes off the bench.

Highest efficiency

Hamilton once again for Bursaspor. He had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal, giving him efficiency rating of 28. The numbers looked good offensively for Bursaspor, but they allowed 91 points at home.

Most three-pointers made

AEK BETSSON BC trailed by 19 points in Sassari, and for a long time it seemed like their fans made the long trip to Italy for nothing. But coach Joan Plaza knew who to call. Chasson Randle knocked down five threes, getting 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter with gigantic clutch shots.


He had four of AEK's five fourth-quarter triples, with Ben McLemore adding another to send the 2018 champs to 2-0. They will play back-to-back games against newcomers King Szczecin in Poland and Greece in November, eyeing a 4-0 start to confirm they are a contender once again.