LAKTASI (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - Day 1 of the 2026 Youth Basketball Champions League saw the pre-game favorite dominate three out of four games.
Oostende picked up where they left off last year against Nymburk, Oldenburg were in complete control for 40 minutes against Galatasaray, and Igokea enjoyed their home comforts to the fullest against BC Sabah.
The last game of the day, however, between Telekom Baskets Bonn and Spartak Office Shoes served up a thriller and hopefully a sign of what is to come in Group D.
Here are the Day 1 results:
ERA Nymburk vs. Coretec Basketball Academy: 55-79 (rewatch the game here)
Galatasaray MCT Technic vs. EWE Oldenburg Baskets: 64-93 (rewatch the game here)
Telekom Baskets Bonn vs. Spartak Office Shoes: 72-62 (rewatch the game here)
#1 Oostende have added depth
Coretec Basketball Academy (Oostende) rode a rotation that went eight deep on their way to the Final last year. This year, they have opened their account with a convincing 79-55 win over ERA Nymburk, and they did it with all twelve players on the roster seeing game time and ten of the twelve getting on the scoresheet.
Prior to the game, most of the focus was rightly on last year's star man, Tim Waerniers.
Waerniers was at the center of things again to start this game, with 13 of his 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals, and 5 assists coming in the first half.
However, this was a controlled performance from Waermiers that demonstrated he's more than willing to delegate responsibility for keeping the scoreboard ticking over if there is the opportunity to do so.
Point guard Dylan Inussa Isako top scored with 22 points, also picking up 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Isako took full advantage of the spacing provided by Waerniers and Max Van de Keere to slice to the rim regularly throughout the game.
Van de Keere himself finished with a 17 points and 11 rebounds double-double on 50-43-100 shooting splits.
Julian DeWinter and Robbe Keppens also took 10 shots each as Oostende shared the love with the game already won by the mid-point of the third quarter.
Oostende held Nymburk to just 11 points in each of the first two quarters, whilst scoring 22 and 18 themselves, respectively. Things did improve for Nymburk in the third, as they won the quarter 20-15, but it was never going to be enough.
The lone bright spot for the Czech champions was, as expected, Krystof Davidek, who finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Davidek provided many of the game's biggest highlights.
#2 Old boys rule
EWE Baskets Oldenburg rode big performances from their senior, 2008-born generation to secure a comfortable win in their opener against Galatasaray.
Nai-Yahrell Leeuwin dropped 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, but his impact on the game with his relentless running the floor and athleticism on the defensive end were just too much for Gala to handle.
He was joined by big man Marko Cuvalo, who dominated the paint for 19 points and 6 rebounds, with more backup from Johnell Nyalwal Katatumba, who recorded 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Oldenburg fully dominated this game from front to back. After taking the lead early in the first quarter, they led for the remaining 37 minutes.
They scored 44 points in the paint to Gala's 28, and on top of the dominant performances from their senior players, they also scored 47 bench points, with Gala only able to muster 22.
For Oldenburg, the biggest challenge in this group is up next. They face the champions Rytas Vilnius on Wednesday, April 8.
For Gala, hope is not lost, but they need to hope for a Rytas win, and then they need to find a way to overcome the Lithuanians themselves.
#3 Home comforts count
After a nervy start, where Igokea struggled with the physicality of Sabah's Emmanuel Agbason, and Sabah's disruptive pressure, the hosts eventually settled into the game halfway through the first quarter. From that moment on, there was only ever going to be one winner in this game.
Serbian U16 international Luka Galic put the whole YBCL on notice with 18 points and 8 rebounds.
His nose for a rebound and ruthlessly efficient shooting were too much for Sabah, as he ended the game shooting 64 percent overall, including 66.7 percent from deep and 62.5 percent from inside the arc.
Djordje Djukanovic impressed with 16 points and 7 rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. He was closely followed by Mico Milovanovic with 13 points and 5 assists.
But in truth, it was more than just the big individual performances, other than Agbason, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds for Sabah, Igokea won every matchup, in every position on the floor, and pretty much enjoyed total roster dominance.
Igokea will have a day off to rest now, whilst Sabah will need to dig deep and find a way to get a win against Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg on Wednesday.
#4 Bonn saved the sweetest for last
Telekom Baskets Bonn and Spartak Office Shoes saved the best game of the day for last. It's fair to say that Bonn controlled the game for the most part, but Spartak took the lead themselves late in the third quarter and stayed within touching distance all the way up until the last minute of the game.
Tom Viehofer was excellent for Bonn, with 14 points and 7 rebounds, with four of those being offensive rebounds.
It was his drive to the basket from a transition ball screen that ended with a huge and-1 to put Bonn up 49-45 with 8:30 to play. Dzenis Hodovic then hit a deep three to beat the shot clock on the next possession down the floor, and Bonn had a 52-45 lead.
Spartak still refused to go down easily, though. A corner three-ball from Simon Grubanov cut the lead to 54-51 with six minutes to play, and the very next possession down the floor saw Aleksandar Nedeljkovic drive to the bucket from the opposite corner and cut the lead to just one point.
Coming out of the subsequent timeout, however, Marvin Nduche found Leonard Franzen in the paint for the bucket and the foul. Bonn never looked back from there.
Maximilian von Saldern dunked home two of his 13 points and 5 rebounds, with 2:44 on the clock to give Bonn a 65-55 lead, and the game was effectively over.
Bonn's Marvin Nduche top-scored in the game with 16 points, whilst Malik Skalonjic put up 17 points and 6 rebounds for a spirited Spartak Office Shoes team.
Whilst this defeat is certainly a blow to Spartak and a boost for Bonn's chances of reaching the Semi-Finals, there is still the matter of Tofas Bursa for both teams to manage.
Spartak will need to beat Tofas and hope the Turkish club can do them a favor against Bonn.