By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Upsets are meant to happen on the opening day, and that was the case in the game between Lietkabelis Paneverys and Besiktas GAIN Istanbul.
Augustine Rubit and Kristian Kullamae, with 17 points each, led the hosts to a big 85-79 win, while Jonah Mathews, with 15 points, was the top scorer of the losing side.
Also in Group B, Panionios survived the charge of the NINERS Chemnitz for the 89-86 overtime win behind a stellar performance by Michalis Lountzis (20 p., 9 r., 6 as., 5 st.) and two back-to-back threes in overtime by Jalen Hands.
On the contrary, the 79-48 road win for Bourg-en-Bresse against Trento proved to be a walk in the park, with Darius McGhee scoring 22 points.
In Group A, Bahcesehir College Istanbul (photo) got an important 98-90 road win over U-BT Cluj-Napoca with former NBA player Malachi Flynn scoring 21 points and leading the Turkish team to the “W”.
Hunter Hale added 16 points for Bahcesehir, which is one of the competition contenders.
In the last game of the group, Cedevita defended its home court against Manresa (76-69) with Aleksej Nikolic scoring 17 points.
Group A
Slask Wroclaw – Neptunas Klaipeda 95-85
Veolia Towers Hamburg – Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 85-100
Umana Reyer Venice – Aris Thessaloniki Betsson 81-85
U-BT Cluj-Napoca – Bahcesehir College Istanbul 90-98
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana – BAXI Manresa 76-69
Group B
Turk Telekom Ankara – ratiopharm Ulm 93-96
Lietkabelis Panevezys – Besiktas GAIN Istanbul 85-79
Panionios Athens -NINERS Chemnitz 89-86 (77-77)
Dolomiti Energia Trento – Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse 48-79
London Lions – Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 59-86