MIES (Switzerland) - Were we expecting Surne Bilbao or Spartak Office Shoes on top of their respective groups after Wednesday's night of action in Season 11? Well, maybe not. But that's why we love this league.
Another night full of surprises is in the books in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. Stay with us to find out more about results, performances, records broken. And a lot more.
Men in Black dark horse
Getting high-level experience from back-to-back highly competitive campaigns in the FIBA Europe Cup, standing on top as champions twice, Bilbao knew how to deal with top-level opponents.
ALBA BERLIN gave the Basque side a taste of their offensive flowing machine in the German capital on October 28, winning 103-100 after a roller-coaster matchup. But Beltzezko Gizonak - Men in Black, as the fans call Bilbao - learned from that.
Pedro Calles' team visited Miribilla Arena with a concrete chance of already qualifying for the Round of 16, and went out of it being overtaken by the hosts, who prevailed 83-75 to get the tiebreaker over ALBA.
At this point of the 2026-27 BCL Regular Season, most spectators were expecting ALBA to rule over their opponents in Group G, but underestimating Jaume Ponsarnau's team was a big mistake, especially in front of extremely loud 4,672 fans.
Bilbao might have scored fewer than 90 points for the first time in Season 11, but they have limited the best-scoring team in the league (101.0 PPG before Tuesday) to just 75 points. Men in Black, the dark horse of the season?
They are fun to watch, and they feed off their crowd's energy. Among everybody else, it looks like Darrun Hilliard is living the best days of his eventful career: against ALBA, he contributed with 17 points.
They can also count on Bastien Vautier (16 points and 9 rebounds) at the glass and Adam Somogyi (9 points and 6 assists) sharing dimes.
Getting directly to the Sweet 16 is no longer an impossible goal.
ALBA could enjoy Jack Kayil's return to action (10 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists) after missing their last matchup with the Basque team.
Brandon Angel had another brilliant night with 19 points off the bench.
Trabzonspor's Big Three? Hold my Sabah
During the summer, everybody was awaiting Trabzonspor's debut campaign in the BCL with their Big Three, composed of the new signings Isaiah Canaan, Shaquille Harrison, and Xavier Tillman, ready to deliver.
While Harrison still hasn't had the opportunity to step on the court in the competition, Marcus Keene joined the party, and they looked impressive in their reverse fixture against Sabah BC, winning by 17 points (100-83).
Moving to Azerbaijan for their second clash in Group A, things have changed: there's another Big Three that have imposed their superiority, leading the hosts to overturn the points differential, getting the 91-72 win.
Big Three, we said:
Gerry Blakes (17 points, 7-of-8 FG, and 9 assists)
Charles Manning Jr (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists)
Frankie Fidler (18 points and 5 rebounds)
Manning and Fidler also became the only players to record multiple games with 15+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in the BCL this season.
"Sabah are a serious team."
That was Blakes, continuing:
"I think we have a serious approach. In the beginning, we had some shortcomings, but we know our potential," Blakes proudly stated in the post-game press conference.
Extending their recent home streak to 3-0, Sabah joined Trabzonspor at 2-2.
With a win by Nanterre 92 on Wednesday night against Rytas Vilnius, we will have a four-team tie in Group A. Are you not entertained?
Dobro došli u zemlju košarke
Heading into Season 11, everybody was expecting nail-biting matchups between Cholet Basket and Hapoel Maoz Daniel Holon to feature eventful action after their previous two encounters in 2025-26.
However, it was another opponent in Group F who had an intense clash with the French side, decided only by a game-winning layup delivered at the final buzzer, basically.
Spartak Office Shoes are on cloud nine right now.
After scoring 10+ points in the first three games of the season, Igor Drobnjak was struggling against Cholet. Then, he got the ball with four seconds to go and delivered one of the most important shots of his career.
That's how the reigning Serbian champions said: "Dobro došli u zemlju košarke," the legendary welcome to the land of basketball message.
The men in white got a 75-73 win against Cholet, and are now standing on top of Group F with a 3-1 record and two games left.
Alen Omic's dominant double-double (10 points and 15 rebounds) also helped.
"I think this last shot was not a lucky shot. We deserved this win. And I want to thank the fans that followed us; they were our sixth player," Danilo Nikolic, who scored 16 points, commented in the aftermath.
A game of two tales: Spartak got back-to-back BCL wins for the second time ever, while Cholet had never suffered two straight BCL defeats since losing their first three games in the competition, back in 2020-21.
Last but not least: what were you doing at 17 years of age?
Aaron Towo-Nansi was scoring 14 points on the road in an intense environment in Serbia. Best Young Player of the Season back to Cholet? Could happen!
Finally, Vechta!
Following the first three games of action in Season 11, things weren't looking great for German teams: both BMA365 Bamberg Baskets, in Group D, and RASTA Vechta, in Group F, were winless at 0-3.
Moreover, Vechta were entering their clash with Holon in Samokov having lost 11 of their previous 12 BCL games. Winning was just a distant memory, having last done so in December 2024.
Sometimes, however, basketball can be unpredictable and gift surprise outcomes, like Vechta's 90-85 win against the Israeli side on Tuesday night. Can this be the beginning of a comeback run for the Play-Ins?
One thing is certain: if Tibor Pleiss keeps having vintage nights like against Holon, contributing with 13 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 3-of-5 from deep, Vechta stand more than a chance.
Adding Justin Edler-Davis and Justice Sueing (17 points each), other than Matt Lewis (11 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists), their only player to have scored 10+ points in each BCL game this season, makes the mix interesting.
At the same time, Holon (2-2) are still in contention to top the group or get home-court advantage in the Play-Ins, as they have kept the tie-break advantage over Vechta after winning by seven points (88-81) in Germany on October 28.
After all, they can count on the deadly duo composed of Lester Medford (20 points and 4 assists) and Adama Sanogo (18 points and 15 rebounds), who had impressive losing efforts in Bulgaria.