By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Basketball Champions League lasting original and 2017 champion, Lenovo Tenerife went through a tough battle with Prometey on Wednesday evening. Marcelinho Huertas was instrumental in crunch time to avoid a rare defeat at Santiago Martin.
Huertas, 38, has enjoyed more than a fair share of continental club competition through the years. The BCL became his home after joining Tenerife in 2019.
He has since dished out 231 assists, including five against the champions of Ukraine lifting him eighth in the all-time list of players with the most dimes.
| PLAYER | AST | GP | AVG |
| 1. Dusan Djordjevic | 313 | 67 | 4.7 |
| 2. Tamir Blatt | 306 | 53 | 5.8 |
| 3. Rodrigo San Miguel | 280 | 78 | 3.6 |
| 4. J’Covan Brown | 276 | 57 | 4.8 |
| 5. Eugene Lawrence | 268 | 48 | 5.6 |
| 6. Ferran Bassas | 243 | 45 | 5.2 |
| 7. Mike Green | 232 | 45 | 5.2 |
| 8. Marcelinho Huertas | 231 | 33 | 7.0 |
| 9. Jordan Theodore | 228 | 36 | 6.3 |
| 10. Axel Julien | 219 | 40 | 5.5 |
The coast is clear for further improvement of the ranking. Except for the all-time leader Dusan Djordjevic of Filou Oostende, the remaining playmakers above him are not currently active in the Champions League.
The former Los Angeles Laker averaging seven assists per BCL contest is the best among the players in the Top 10. At this rate, he can eventually challenge Djordjevic by the end of the 2021-22 campaign.
In his latest solid performance, apart from connecting a couple of clutch three-pointers down the stretch, he also assisted Giorgi Shermadini in two late buckets to hold off Prometey. A very familiar Basketball Champions League connection was restored after the Georgian center missed the first three 2021-22 games due to injury.
The team based in San Cristóbal de La Laguna refused to drop consecutive BCL matches for the second time in team history. In addition, notched its eleventh straight home win in FIBA’s premier European club competition.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League