MIES (Switzerland) - Five games were played on Wednesday in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
La Laguna Tenerife were the biggest winners of the day, storming to a group win against their arch rivals from the Canary Islands.
La Laguna Tenerife 79-76 Dreamland Gran Canaria
Basketball is a different sport when you have a two-time MVP available.
Marcelinho Huertas got injured the last time these two played, and after returning to the lineup in the Spanish Liga Endesa over the weekend, the legendary Brazilian made all the difference in the second ever Canary Islands Derby in international competition.
He had 14 points in the first half alone, helping Tenerife take the lead, and then switched through gears late in the third quarter, knocking down a deep three-pointer to beat the buzzer and make it a 63-52 game with ten to play.
With Gran Canaria winning the first matchup by two points, coach Txus Vidorreta wanted his team to protect that margin, but they lived on the edge, as Isaiah Wong missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with six seconds left to play.
The two-time champs sealed the deal from the charity stipe, taking the tiebreaker, securing the top spot of the group with a game in hand, meaning they will own home court advantage in the Quarter-Finals against one of the second-placed teams from the other three groups.
Huertas finished with a game-high 28 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep, while Aaron Doornekamp made it two 40+ year-olds in double digits with 10.
Superstar Patty Mills has not yet arrived in Tenerife, and was, understandably, not on the roster. Neither was Chimezie Metu for Gran Canaria, who now have to battle it out to reach the Quarter-Finals.
ERA Nymburk 82-76 Pallacanestro Trieste
The perennial Czech champions no longer have Sir' Jabari Rice on their roster, so they had to find his 20 points or so elsewhere. Enter stage, Goran Filipovic!
The Croatian point guard arrived in Czechia and made a difference straight away, pouring in 21 points in 25 minutes to lead ERA Nymburk to a season sweep over Pallacanestro Trieste.
Coach Oren Amiel's men enjoyed the standing ovation from the packed stands in Prague.
"First of all, I wanna say a big thanks for the fans tonight. The arena was loud and good vibes, and I think it helped us in the crucial moments. I thought (the game) was stressful for us, obviously knowing that we had to win to stay in with a chance. But the moment we found the rhythm in the 3rd quarter, it was OK," the playcaller said.
This defeat means Trieste are out of contention. Nymburk, meanwhile, will chase a four-point win over Gran Canaria to advance to the Quarter-Finals.
AEK BC 96-88 Tofas Bursa
The streak is still alive, as AEK remain the only unbeaten team of the Round of 16.
Coach Dragan Sakota knew what to do when Tofas made life difficult late in the game - give the ball to Frank Bartley, sit back and enjoy your chair, as the shooting guard put AEK on his back again and carried them over the finish line.
Bartley counted to 22, with 5 assists and 4 rebounds also to his name. While Bartley did the scoring, RaiQuan Gray did the heavy lifting with 13 points and 15 rebounds, also getting 4 assists and 3 steals on the day.
"Great win tonight for us," Gray said, then continued:
"We didn’t start off very well like we wanted to. We knew those guys were gonna come out tonight and compete, fight. It was a tough game last time in Türkiye, so, we expected that, but I’m glad we got the win and we showed some things that we can get better at."
AEK will travel to Berlin next week, knowing that a win or a defeat by up to 8 points would give them the top spot in the group, and home court advantage in the Quarter-Finals.
Karditsa Iaponiki 71-76 ALBA BERLIN
It looked like there might be an upset on the hands, as Karditsa made it a one-point game with just under a minute left to play in the game.
However, ALBA stayed calm, with J'Wan Roberts drawing a foul on the offensive glass, knocking both shots to make it +3. Karditsa went for a quick two next time down the court, it did not fall, allowing Sam Griesel to ice the game in transition.
Coach Pedro Calles used 11 players in this one, all of them scored at least three points, with Griesel (12) and Roberts (10) being the only two players in double figures for the German giants.
The two Jeffersons, Damien and Brandon, combined for 27 for Karditsa, but they fall to 0-5.
Rytas Vilnius 101-81 Le Mans Sarthe Basket
All to play for in Group I next week. With Galatasaray MCT Technic and Rytas Vilnius picking up wins this week, no team has qualified for the Quarter-Finals from this group yet.