By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The third week of the 2022-23 Basketball Champions League started with a banger, as Vassilis Spanoulis’ Peristeri beat Lenovo Tenerife 88-81 in what was a very high-scoring game even before halftime (57-43).
Sylvain Francisco got his revenge after last year’s final, when he lost to Txus Vidorreta’s team with BAXI Manresa, ending the game with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Aleksa Radanov and Marcus Denmon were also crucial on the offensive end, combining for 37 points. Miro Bilan, who is one of only four players to have made 600+ points and 300+ rebounds in the history of the competition, had 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Marcelinho Huertas, who went close to a double-double with 17 points and 9 assists, became the all-time assists leader in the history of the Basketball Champions League, surpassing Filou Oostende’s own Dusan Djordjevic who is still active, so things may soon change again.
He hasn’t been the only one living a night to be remembered, despite losing: Giorgi Shermadini (13 p.) became the 4th all-time BCL scorer with 682 points.
With this loss, Lenovo Tenerife’s winning streak gets to an end, with 12 consecutive BCL victories. AS Monaco keeps the first position from the 2017-18 season, with 14 wins in a row between April 2017 and January 2018.
This is Peristeri’s second BCL win in a row, after destroying Bnei Herzliya 86-70 in Round 1. They now lead Group H alone, on a 2-0 record. Lenovo Tenerife stays at 1-1.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League