MIES (Switzerland) - The Ninth Symphony season tipped off on Tuesday on a fast-paced tempo, as the first five games provided us with highlight after highlight across the continent.
VEF Riga 86-72 Telekom Baskets Bonn
There were plenty of cases over the course of the previous eight years of the Basketball Champions League where players proved age was just a number. Add the 35-year-old Dairis Bertans to the list.
The captain of the Latvian national team not only turned back time, but also made the start of the ninth BCL season a night he'll remember forever.
For the first time in his professional career, he climbed over 30 points in a single game, finishing with 31 on 7-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc to guide the Latvian title holders to a win over the 2023 BCL champions.
"We know his qualities, we know he's a guy that lives for this kind of games. He's a guy that has the experience of playing at this level and to produce. He had one of those nights that he saw the first shots drop in and we were relaxed about it, you cannot give these first shots to a guy like that," Bonn coach Roel Moors said afterwards.
He had a solid helping hand in Issuf Sanon. The Ukrainian point guard returned to the BCL after five years, and had 19 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, setting the tone on defense for VEF all game long.
Darius McGhee opened up his BCL account with 25 points off the bench for Telekom Baskets Bonn.
AEK Betsson BC 80-71 Maccabi Ramat-Gan
Last season, AEK got off to a 5-0 start to the Regular Season, and once again, they start the campaign with a strong performance.
They hit Maccabi with a steady diet of their two lefties from the outside and Grant Golden's golden touch from inside the arc.
Prentiss Hubb counted to 28 on 7-of-12 three-pointers, Hunter Hale made 4-of-8 from deep for 16 points, while Golden had 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Kendale McCullum had 21 for the Israeli newcomers, but only made 6-of-17 shots from the field.
Galatasaray 103-91 RASTA Vechta
It seems like there's plenty of excitement with Galatasaray every October, but this season opener looked the most impressive since they've joined the BCL, five seasons ago.
Otis Livingston needed just one game to make the Galatasaray fans fall in love with him, powering the offense with 21 points and 9 assists, applying the defensive pressure on the ball, too, and showing why he was named the MVP of the German Bundesliga last season.
His efficiency rating was 23, and his team was +26 during his 25 minutes of work.
With Livingston finding Angel Delgado (14pts, 6/6, 7reb) easily, the Turkish powerhouse scored 56 first half points, opened up a 27-point lead at one point and cruised towards a winning start to the season.
Jayden Gardner had 18 for Vechta, they will be happy they cut the deficit to -12 at the end, it could be important at the end of the Regular Season.
FIT/One Wurzburg 85-76 Hapoel Netanel Holon
Livingston's former team also won on Tuesday. Wurzburg enjoyed a standing ovation from the packed stands as they held off a late Holon run to claim a nine-point win.
Keeping Zac Seljaas on the roster was crucial during the summer, and the forward showed why the front office put so much trust in him by getting 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half alone.
The man with the mullet was closely followed by Mike Davis Jr with 20 and Jhivvan Jackson with 18, improving coach Saso Filipovski's BCL record to 14-1 in home games during the Regular Season.
King Szczecin 70-85 Aliaga Petkimspor
The only road win in the first batch of BCL games happened in Poland, where Aliaga Petkimspor opened up their BCL account by leading from start to finish, including by 25 in the second quarter.
Szczecin minimized the damage by climbing back to -15, but they had a hard time stopping DeWayne Russell's orchestra. The point guard picked up 13 points and 11 assists, while Wesley Van Beck scored a team-high 19 points off the bench.
Przemyslaw Zolnierewicz led the hosts with 19 points.