By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Michalis Lountzis and Bryce Jones shared the Most Valuable Player nod for Round 1 of the 2025-26 BKT EuroCup Regular Season.
Euroleague Basketball confirmed the co-MVPs on Friday.
Aris opened the new season with a win against Umana Reyer Venice in Palasport Taliercio on Tuesday. Powering up the team coached by Bogdan Karaicic, 30-year-old Jones tallied 26 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and one steal on the way to a week-high Performance Index Rating of 33.
Matching the PIR of 33 on Wednesday, 27-year-old Lountzis went for 20 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals as fellow Greek club Panionios outlasted Niners Chemnitz in overtime at home.
Per the press release: “Bryce Jones of Aris Thessaloniki Betsson and Michalis Lountzis of Panionios Athens were named Round 1 co-MVPs, each posting a round-high PIR of 33.
Jones led Aris to an 85-81 road victory over Umana Reyer Venice with a well-rounded performance: 26 points on 9-of-14 two-pointers, 1-of-3 three-pointers, and 5-of-7 free throws, along with 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 7 fouls drawn. Panionios needed overtime to edge NINERS Chemnitz 89-86, with Lountzis leading the charge. He scored 20 points on 3-of-4 two-pointers, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws, added 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and drew 6 fouls.
Malachi Flynn of Bahcesehir College Istanbul posted a PIR of 32 in his team’s 98-90 road victory over U-BT Cluj-Napoca. Flynn contributed 24 points on 6-of-8 two-pointers, 2-of-5 three-pointers and 6-of-8 free throws, along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 5 fouls drawn.
Mark Smith of ratiopharm Ulm and Dusan Miletic of Cluj, each with a PIR of 27, round out the top individual performances. Smith tallied 23 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals in Ulm’s 96-93 win at Turk Telekom Ankara, while Miletic finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.
Individual highs: Arnas Velicka, Neptunas, 10 assists
Bryce Jones of Aris and Corey Davis of Chemnitz topped the scoring charts with 26 points each.
Thomas Kennedy of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Yordan Minchev of Chemnitz, Zacharie Perrin of Veolia Towers Hamburg, and Austin Wiley of Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem each grabbed 11 rebounds, the most in Round 1.
Arnas Velicka of Neptunas Klaipeda was the only player to reach double digits in assists, dishing out 10 in his team’s 95-85 road loss to Slask Wroclaw.
Four players collected 4 steals apiece in Round 1: Velicka, Michalis Lountzis, Malachi Flynn, and Ty Brewer of Chemnitz.
Justin Smith of Jerusalem led the round with 3 blocks.
Three players recorded double-doubles: Velicka (16 points, 10 assists), Wiley (14 points, 11 rebounds), and Kennedy (10 points, 11 rebounds).