MIES (Switzerland) - In the Quarter-Finals of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, starting the series in front of their own fans could be crucial. This thesis was confirmed in Game 1.
The four hosts protected their home-court advantage in Vilnius, Athens, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and Malaga. As the action moves to Prague, Badalona, Istanbul, and Berlin, we will find out what happens in Game 2.
Before focusing on what would be the outcome of these four decisive matchups, scheduled on April 7 and 8, on the road to the BCL Final Four in Badalona, let's stick to our usual 24 must-know facts, stats, and domestic results.
ERA Nymburk (0) vs. Rytas Vilnius (1) - April 7 at 18:30 CET
This will be ERA Nymburk’s second game at home in the BCL Quarter-Finals, after being defeated by Galatasaray MCT Technic last season (80-106); they won their most recent BCL game at home (82-76 vs. Pallacanestro Trieste), but are yet to win consecutive home games this season.
Rytas Vilnius are on a four-game winning streak, but they have only once won more BCL games on the bounce (W6 in October 2024 – January 2025); they have won their last two BCL fixtures on the road, but have never had a longer such run.
Nymburk (42.9) and Rytas (42.0) are among the four teams with the highest average points scored by bench players per game in the BCL this season. Nymburk rely the most on their bench, as they are the only team to have at least half of their total points coming from bench players (53.8%).
Jaromir Bohacik (Nymburk) has scored 10+ points in each of his last three BCL games after reaching double-digits in scoring in only one of his previous nine appearances. He made 50 percent of his three-pointers in those three games (8-of-16) after making only 21 percent of his attempts from behind the arc in his previous four games (3-of-14).
Jerrick Harding has scored 20+ points in six of his last nine road games in the BCL. In fact, he has scored 20+ points in nine road games in the BCL, a joint-high alongside Marcus Foster and J’Covan Brown.
Jaromir Bohacik scored 22 points to lead Nymburk to the 88-86 victory against Pardubice; Simonas Lukosius’ 25 points inspired Rytas’ 105-91 win over Nevezis.
Asisa Joventut (0) vs. AEK BC (1) - April 7 at 19:30 CET
Asisa Joventut have lost three of their last four BCL games, after winning their previous nine; however, all those defeats happened while playing on the road, with the Spanish side being undefeated at home (W6).
AEK BC are yet to win a road game in the Quarter-Finals of a BCL season (D1 L4); in fact, their heaviest defeat in league history happened precisely in a road game during the 2023 Quarter-Finals (-40, vs. Hapoel Jerusalem in April 2023).
Joventut have the best assists per turnover ratio in the BCL this season, making almost twice as many assists as turnovers (1.96); they have made 20+ assists on 77 percent of their games this season (10-of-13), no other team has done it in more than 67 percent of their games.
Cameron Hunt (Joventut) has scored 19+ points in three of his last four home games in the BCL after reaching that mark in only one of his first 13 home games. He has made 97.6 percent of his free throws in the BCL this season (40-of-41), and he is currently on a 19 free-throw made run.
Frank Bartley has been AEK's best (7 times) or second-best (3 times) scorer in 10 of their last 11 games in the BCL, leading his team in points in each of the most recent three. He has scored 20+ points in eight games this season, at least two more games than any other player; only five players have done it in more games during a single season previously.
Joventut suffered the 89-67 home defeat to UCAM Murcia in the ACB; AEK weren’t successful either, losing 82-78 on the road against Aris.
Galatasaray MCT Technic (0) vs. La Laguna Tenerife (1) - April 8 at 19:00 CET
Galatasaray won their only previous home game in the BCL Quarter-Finals, 90-74 against Nymburk last season; however, they have lost their last three BCL games played in Türkiye after winning the previous 10.
La Laguna Tenerife have won nine of their last 11 games in the BCL Quarter-Finals, but their most recent defeat at that stage was in Türkiye, 81-90 against Tofas in 2024. They also won their only previous visit to Galatasaray in the league, 104-89 in December 2020, the only time Galatasaray have conceded 100+ points at home in the competition.
Tenerife (10.3) and Galatasaray (10.5) are making the fewest turnovers per game in the BCL this season; thus, they are two of the three teams that have allowed the fewest points from turnover per game (Galatasaray 11.8, Tenerife 12.0 - NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz 11.7).
James Palmer Jr (Galatasaray) has scored more than 15 points in each of his last two BCL games, but has done it in more games in a row only once before, three in March 2025. He has averaged 14.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in his seven BCL games against Spanish opposition.
Wesley Van Beck was Tenerife’s best (3 times) or second-best (1 time) scorer in their last four road games in the BCL. In fact, he is averaging 17.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game when playing away from home with the Spanish side in the competition, while averaging 4.2 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 0.6 assists when playing at home.
Heading to Game 2, Galatasaray had a positive weekend with the 92-70 win over Bursaspor; Marcelinho Huertas had 23 points and 5 assists but Tenerife lost 103-101 to Lleida.
ALBA BERLIN (0) vs. Unicaja (1) - April 8 at 20:30 CET
ALBA BERLIN have lost their two most recent BCL games, as many defeats as in their previous 11 games in the competition; the Berliners were leading at halftime in only one of their last nine BCL games.
Unicaja have won seven of their nine games in the BCL Quarter-Finals (77.8%), the highest winning percentage of any team to have played more than two games at this stage; Unicaja have lost two of their last three road games in the BCL, including one in Germany (71-80 vs. Wurzburg) after losing only one of the previous 15.
Unicaja have the best point difference in the first half of their games than any other team in the BCL this season (+9.0 per game on average), while ALBA have the best second half difference (+6.2 on average). Unicaja have won the first half in 10 of their 13 games this season, while ALBA have won the second half in 11 of their 13 games.
Justin Bean (ALBA) has scored 10+ points in each of his six home games in the BCL, making at least one three-pointer in each of those games; he is averaging 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game when playing at home in the competition.
Jonathan Barreiro is set to become the 9th player to reach 100 games played in the BCL and the first one among the Spanish players (33 games with Casademont Zaragoza and 66 with Unicaja so far). Unicaja have won their last 12 BCL games when Barreiro came from the bench and lost two of the last four when he was a starter.
In Germany, Oldenburg beat ALBA 81-79 in Berlin; Malaga didn’t succeed during the weekend, losing 90-74 to Bilbao on the road despite James Webb’s 20 points.