MIES (Switzerland) - It was another busy night all over the continent, with action tipping off in Latvia and the final buzzer sounding off in Portugal. Here's what happened:
VEF Riga 69-80 AEK Betsson BC
The Latvian champs had a solid attendance for this one, hoping they could improve to 2-1 in the standings and go top of the group, at least for 24 hours. However, AEK were just that much more consistent.
The 2018 champs took the lead at the start of the second quarter and never looked back, opening up a 16-point lead early in the fourth. Riga attempted a comeback, but only managed to reduce the deficit to 6.
The result means AEK have put an end to their five-game losing slide on the road in the BCL.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas knocked down 13-of-14 free throws en route to 19 points in the same arena where he scored his first points as a pro, nearly 18 years previously.
"I have a special memory from this gym. I am not at home, but during warm-up I caught myself feeling like I was home because my family and friends came to support me, but also because in this gym I scored my first points as a professional player when I was 17. The coach put me on, it was a full gym, I don't know 14,000 people, I remember tying my shoes and my legs were shaking, but I got in the game and made the three," the Lithuanian forward remembered.
Grant Golden did his damage inside the arc with 14 points and 6 rebounds, Hunter Hale had 13 points with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, while Omiros Netzipoglou added 10 off the bench.
Issuf Sanon finished with 17 points, 6 steals, 5 assists and 4 rebounds for VEF, but they drop to 1-2. AEK are 2-1, the remaining two teams in this group are at 1-1, Maccabi Ramat-Gan and Telekom Baskets Bonn.
Saint-Quentin Basket-Ball 61-71 La Laguna Tenerife
Plenty of eyes were on the point guard battle in France, as the 41-year-old Marcelinho Huertas took on the teenage sensation, Nolan Traore. However, others had better games on the day.
Tenerife's hero was Tim Abromaitis, playing an integral role in the big fourth quarter which saw the two-time BCL champs break away. He had 17 points in just 22 minutes of action.
Dominik Olejniczak tortured Tenerife's bigs with 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting, and 10 rebounds, forcing the Spaniards to expand their center rotation. It turned out to be a good call for Tenerife, as Ilimane Diop scored 10 points in 11 minutes off the bench.
As for the aforementioned guards, Traore came off the bench for 5 points and 4 assists, while Huertas had 9 points, 6 assists and 3 rebounds, also as a non-starter.
Tenerife are now 3-0 in this group, two wins clear of SQBB, with a chance to complete the sweep over the French team when they meet in the Canary Islands in two weeks' time.
WKS Slask Wroclaw 65-73 Pallacanestro Reggiana
Another close game decided by the visitors producing a powerful fourth quarter display was played at exactly the same time in Poland, where Pallacanestro Reggiana jumped up to 2-1 in the Group F standings and held the Polish Supercup winners down to 0-3.
This one was all about the Italian defense, as Stephan Gombauld led them in building a wall, picking up 5 blocks and 4 steals, along with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Jamar Smith had 13 points off the bench, while Cassius Winston scored a team-high 16. Honorable mention goes to the 19-year-old Mouhamed Faye, who dunked his way to 8 points in just 12 minutes.
Daniel Golebiowski and Angel Nunez were Slask's best players on the day with 13 each.
SL Benfica 58-72 Bertram Derthona Basket
Bertram Derthona Basket were respectful guests for just over a minute in Lisbon but, after they jumped in the lead on an Arturs Strautins triple at the 1:24 mark of the first quarter, their half-court defense started stifling Benfica, and powered them to a valuable 72-58 road win, their third in as many games in Group G.
The Italian side led by 9 points at the break, extended the gap to 14 in the third stanza and to as many as 17 in the fourth. The Portuguese champions found some scoring solutions in the open floor and from second-chance points, but Derthona remained firmly in control the entire night thanks to their defense.
Christian Vital spearheaded the Italian offense with 17 points and 4 assists, while Ismael Kamagate finished with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Jose Barbosa was the only Benfica player to score in double digits and had 12 points in defeat.
Derthona have extended their undefeated run to three games and remain top of the Group G standings, while Benfica are yet to taste victory in this Regular Season and have now dropped to 0-3.