SAMOKOV (Bulgaria) - The Basketball Champions League Qualification Round Tournaments have spoiled us with crazy endings, shocking results, and absolutely stunning upsets. Ahead of Season 11, it hasn't changed.
In a fantastic and memorable turn of events, the QRT1 Final delivered from start to finish, featuring Salon Vilpas' first-ever qualification for the BCL Regular Season, powered by Ameresco SUNEL as they beat CSM CSU Raiffeisen Oradea 98-96.
Turning point
Unlike what took place in the Quarter-Finals against Patrioti Levice and in the Semi-Finals against Bakken Bears Aarhus, Vilpas had basically control of the whole encounter from the beginning to the end.
However, Oradea fought their way to a tie at 96-96 with five seconds to go. That's when Leland Walker put the icing on the cake of his spectacular QRT1 in Samokov, first being fouled by Bodie Hume and then converting both free throws with 0.8 left to play.
With Vilpas up by two points, the Romanian side could still pull off the victory and return to the BCL Regular Season after a decade of absence. Instead, Sebastian Lindberg deflected Oradea's in-bound to close it out.
Player of the Game
Heading to the QRT1 Final, only VEF Riga's Jordan Sears (35.5) was averaging more points per game than him, but he couldn't fight for a qualifying ticket to get to the Group Stage.
Leland Walker, instead, has not only provided amazing stats, but winning basketball, too. He was the one who perfectly converted at the line with 0.8 seconds to go, sealing the deal for his team.
After putting up 62 points in the Quarter-Finals and Semi-Finals, he concluded his stay in Samokov with 42 points, shooting 5-of-12 from beyond the arc, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists.
He will always be remembered as an absolute legend of Vilpas after this week in Bulgaria. Indeed, he broke the record for the most points scored in a single game in BCL QRT history.
Single-game records in BCL QRT history
PLAYER | TEAM | OPPONENT | DATE | POINTS SCORED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Leland Walker | Salon Vilpas | CSM CSU Raiffeisen Oradea | 20/09/2026 | 42 |
Ivan Almeida | SL Benfica | Brose Bamberg | 25/09/2022 | 39 |
Jordan Sears | VEF Riga | LANDAU Lions | 14/09/2026 | 38 |
Darius McGhee | Telekom Baskets Bonn | MoraBanc Andorra | 20/09/2024 | 37 |
Tony Carr | Bakken Bears | FMP Meridian | 25/09/2022 | 34 |
Will Carius | Patrioti Levice | Bakken Bears | 25/09/2025 | 33 |
Justin Wright-Foreman | Brose Bamberg | Budivelnyk | 23/09/2022 | 33 |
D'Angelo Harrison | Prometey | Opava | 16/09/2021 | 33 |
Stats Don't Lie
14 seconds: the amount of time when Oradea had the lead in the game.
39:08 minutes: the amount of time when Vilpas had the lead in the game.
That should be self-explanatory, but there are other numerical factors that made an impact for Vilpas in beating Oradea: they outrebounded the opponents 43-35 and won despite turning the ball over 17 times.
Bottom Line
10 years after their first participation in BCL's Season 1, Oradea won't be making their comeback.
Despite the loss, they still had five players concluding the game by scoring in double digits: Kris Richard (23), Quincy Guerrier (17), David Nichols (15), Josh Jefferson (14), and Malik Osborne (10).
Following such a successful week in Samokov, Vilpas became the second-ever team from Finland to qualify for the BCL Regular Season after Kataja in 2016-17.
Interestingly enough, they did it by eliminating a team coached by a Scandinavian head coach, the Swedish-Finnish Mikko Riipinen, Sweden and Oradea's head coach.
Joining the outstanding Walker, Karl Chavis (14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists) and D.J. Jeffries (15 points and 6 rebounds) were extremely important for Vilpas too.
Starting this new adventure outside Finnish borders, Vilpas will now play against AEK BC, Falco KC Szombathely, and Windrose Giants Antwerp in Group C of the Regular Season.