MIES (Switzerland) - We're back on track for Tuesday's Regular Season action in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
Two games from Group D, one from Group F, and an anticipated clash in Group B between German and Czech powerhouses to conclude the day: what more could you want? Well, our usual 24 must-know facts.
Bnei Penlink Herzliya vs. Trapani Shark - Group D, 17:30 CET
Bnei Penlink Herzliya have lost their last three games in the BCL, their longest losing streak in the competition; they lost their last two home games by an average margin of 20.5 points.
Trapani Shark have lost their first two BCL games, but they will play their first game away from home in the competition. However, each of their two defeats ended with margins of six points or fewer.
Trapani have seen 58.7 percent of their total points being scored from two-point range, the highest such ratio in the BCL this season, while Herzliya rank 5th (53.8%). In fact, the Italian side has made more two-pointers per game than any other team so far this season (24.5).
Chinanu Onuaku (Herzliya) is averaging 16.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block per game in the BCL; he has played only one home game, in October 2022 with Dinamo Sassari against Unicaja, where he tallied 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Timmy Allen (Trapani) has scored 10+ points and made at least one three-pointer in each of his 11 BCL appearances. He is yet to make a free-throw in the BCL since joining Trapani (0-of-5) after averaging 4.9 made FTs per game in his nine appearances with Filou Oostende (44-of-55 – 80%).
Trapani's newcomer was also his side's leader with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists but the team suffered the 108-100 road defeat to former BCL participants Derthona; Herzliya's Max Heidegger had 29 points during the weekend but couldn't avoid the 114-99 defeat on the road against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Tofas Bursa vs. La Laguna Tenerife - Group D, 18:00 CET
Tofas Bursa have won their last two BCL games and, in case of a win, they would equal their best winning runs in the competition; they have won only one of their five games against La Laguna Tenerife in the BCL, but it was the last time they faced each other in Türkiye (90-81 in April 2024).
Tenerife have won their last nine games in the BCL Regular Season; their last such defeat was in December 2023 against VEF Riga (72-77); they have won nine of their 10 games played against teams from Türkiye in the Regular Season.
Tofas (54.8%) and Tenerife (54.1%) have the best field goal accuracy among all teams in the BCL this season; Tenerife are also averaging the most points per possession of any team (1.36).
Alex Perez (Tofas) has scored 10+ points in each of his last six BCL games, his best run in the competition; he has also made 7+ assists in each of his last four games in the competition. He has an average plus/minus of +8.1 per game in his nine BCL home appearances.
Jaime Fernandez (Tenerife) has scored more than 10 points in each of his last three BCL games but has never enjoyed a longer run in the competition; he scored 25 points in his last game, against Herzliya, his best total in a BCL game, making each of his seven two-pointers and each of his five free throws.
Marcelinho Huertas had 19 points and 6 assists as Tenerife took down Unicaja 95-79 in the Spanish derby of BCL teams, taking Tenerife to 4-0, top of the standings in Liga Endesa; Tofas also won in Türkiye with six players in double-digits, including Marek Blazevic (17 points and 6 rebounds), beating Büyükçekmece 91-70 at home.
Patrioti Levice vs. AEK BC - Group F, 18:00 CET
Patrioti Levice won 92-73 their last BCL game, against Riga, after losing their first game; they will play their first home game in the competition. They were trailing at halftime in each of their two previous league fixtures.
AEK BC have won 13 of their last 16 Regular Season games in the BCL, including the last three; however, the three defeats in that span came while playing away from home. Their last seven such games have all ended with double-digit margins.
AEK were the only team that never trailed in the scoreboard in any of the first two game days of this BCL season. They also conceded only 17.5 points from opposition bench players per game, fewer than any other team, while Patrioti Levice were the only team that saw their bench unit averaging fewer than 10 points per game (6.0).
Levice’s Gabe Dorsey has made six three-pointers, the most among all players that are yet to make a two-point shot in the BCL this season; he is making 54.5 percent of his attempted threes in the competition (6-of-11).
RaiQuan Gray had his first BCL double-double in his most recent appearance with AEK, combining 16 points and 10 rebounds against NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz; he will try to score more than 15 points in consecutive BCL games for the second time in his 17 BCL appearances.
AEK beat Iraklis 82-61 away from home, also thanks to Lukas Lekavicius' 16 points off the bench; Levice had their fifth consecutive win in the Slovakian League, beating Nitra Blue Wings 91-75 on the road.
ALBA BERLIN vs. ERA Nymburk - Group B, 20:00 CET
ALBA BERLIN lost their first home game (76-81 vs. Elan Chalon), but only two German teams have lost their first two home games in the BCL previously: Oldenburg in 2016-17 and Telekom Baskets Bonn in 2017-18.
ERA Nymburk have won their last four road games in the BCL Regular Season, always scoring 80+ points in the process; they have never won five road games in a row in the Regular Season.
Nymburk are the only team averaging 20+ offensive rebounds in the BCL this season (23.0), and they have grabbed 43.4 percent of the rebounds available on their offensive basket, the highest ratio of all teams.
Justin Bean has scored in double-figures in each of his two BCL games played with ALBA and is yet to miss a shot from the free-throw line (8-of-8); Bean has also grabbed 5+ rebounds and has had at least a steal and a block in each of his two games thus far.
Marcus Santos Silva (Nymburk) has tallied 25 points and 30 rebounds in his two BCL games this season after tallying 24 points and 35 rebounds in his first nine games combined; his 19 rebounds on Gameday 2 were the joint-second total for a player in a BCL game.
ALBA had a huge 67-61 win in the German Bundesliga against Bayern Munich, with J'Wan Roberts, Jack Kayil, and Martin Hermannsson all scoring 12 points; Sir'Jabari Rice (22 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds) inspired Nymburk's 7th consecutive win in Czechia, winning by 30 points (105-75) against Sokol Pisek Srsni.