14 matches were held on the first day of the Basketball Champions League. In the first and sixth, already at the end of December, the eight groups meet. In the intermission, four groups alternate per week, so the competition does not stop, but the teams do reduce their load. The matches in which the Israeli teams (Hapoel Jerusalem and Hapoel Holon) participated were not played due to the war situation in the area, although there are already plans for them to begin playing their matches from the beginning of November. As there are free weeks (and the local competition is stopped) postponed duels can be recovered more easily.
Unicaja carried out its first match in Hungary before him Falco Szombathely. It was not a good game for Ibon Navarro’s pupils, who did give the minimum to get a victory that is already on track with the objective of being first in the group to avoid the hassle of play in in January. These first phase matches are not easy, despite the difference in level. Unicaja avoided the scare with its squad depth, finding the centers and with a more in tune second half in defense. The Hungarian team showed the weapons with which they defeated, for example,l UCAM Murcia Last season.
In the other game of the group, the Le Mans, opponent on Tuesday in the Martín Carpena, He defeated with considerable authority the Perister (96-68) with several outstanding performances by the Americans DeVante’ Jones (18 points and five assists) and Nate Mason (17 points and five assists). The wide difference makes the French team the momentary leader, which follows the usual canons of the teams from the neighboring country, with a lot of physical and athletic power. In it Perister18 points Jaylen Hands (former PAOK, whom Unicaja faced last year) and 10 assists from Joe Ragland.
Expanding the focus to the rest of the games, good victory for AEK by Joan Plaza (84-79) before the Ludwigsburgwith a partial 12-2 in the last minutes to close the game, with Kuzminsk as one of the general capitals (15 points and six rebounds), with Langston Hall (12 points and eight assists) as boss. The coach who coached the most games at the helm of Unicaja has built an interesting team and could be one of the contenders.
In the other Spanish teams, clear victories of Tenerife (after overcoming 19 adverse points in the first half) against the Cholet (95-75) with a stellar performance by Sasu Salin (25 points and eight triples) and Brogánin his debut, against Bursaspor (68-48). and defeat ofl UCAM Murcia against what many consider the great underdog of the competition, the Italian Tortona (78-74), debutant but already consolidated in the Lega. Dowe, Obasohan, Weems and TaShawn Thomas are players with packaging.
A curious detail, the Icelandic Elvar Fridriksson, part PAOK, He achieved a triple double in the great victory of the Greek team on the Galatasaray court (77-88). 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists from the Viking. It had been six years since there had been a triple double in the competition. The other two players who registered it in the BCL are Chris Kramer, who did it with the EWE Baskets Oldenburg in January 2017 (16 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists) against Muratbey Usak, and Arnas Butkevicius, who did it with Neptuna Klaipeda in November 2017 (19 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) against the PAOK. The top scorer of the day was Caleb Homesleyan interesting guard from Tofas Bursa who added 29 points in his team’s victory in overtime on the Igokea court (102-104).
2023-10-19 09:54:08
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