Basketball Champions League: Golden tickets to Round of 16 and thrilling Play-In pairs / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The majority of Basketball Champions League teams have played the last match in their groups, after which the squads were ranked in the final standings of Round 32.

However, Group B and Group E remain unclear till the end, as BAXI Manresa vs Hapoel Jerusalem (December 28) and PAOK vs Igokea (December 29) games were moved to the next week due to COVID-19 outbreaks.

Further competition format

The winner of each group automatically advanced to the Round of 16. Meanwhile, the second and third-placed teams will compete in a Play-In to qualify to the Round of 16.

These teams will face each other in a best-of-three series, which will be played in January. The home-court advantage will belong to the second-placed teams. The eight Play-In winners will join the eight group winners in the Round of 16.

Play-In Lenovo Tenerife v Pinar Karsiyaka/Hapoel Jerusalem JDA Dijon v VEF Riga Igokea/PAOK v Filou Oostende Hapoel Holon v Besiktas Icrypex Pinar Karsiyaka/Hapoel Jerusalem v Prometey Nutribullet Treviso v Lavrio Megabolt SIG Strasbourg v Igokea/PAOK San Pablo Burgos v Darussafaka

There, the 16 remaining teams will be divided into four groups. The two best teams from each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

Round of 16 - Composition of Groups MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg BAXI Manresa Unicaja Malaga Falco Szombathely Galatasaray Nef Tofas Bursa Cluj Napoca Rytas Vilnius Winner C2 v D3 Winner D2 v C3 Winner B2 v A3 Winner A2 v B3 Winner G2 v H3 Winner H2 v G3 Winner E2 v F3 Winner F2 v E3

The quarterfinals stage will take place in April. There, teams will also compete in the best-of-three series. When the four best teams are known, they will duke it out in the BCL Final Four.

Credit FIBA

Group winners

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (Group A) BAXI Manresa (Group B) Unicaja Malaga (Group C) Falco Szombathely (Group D) Galatasaray Nef (Group E) Tofas Bursa (Group F) Cluj Napoca (Group G) Rytas Vilnius (Group H)

Play-In pairs

Lenovo Tenerife vs Pinar Karsiyaka/Hapoel Jerusalem Pinar Karsiyaka/Hapoel Jerusalem vs Prometey Dijon vs VEF Riga Nutribullet Treviso vs Lavrio Megabolt Igokea/PAOK vs Filou Oostende SIG Strasbourg vs Igokea/PAOK Hapoel Holon vs Besiktas Icrypex San Pablo Burgos vs Darussafaka

Group A

Prometey prevailed MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, 71-60, and took third place in Group A. This game had no meaning for Ludwigsburg's club as they straightly got through to Round 16.

Lenovo Tenerife cruised past Banco di Sardegna Sassari, 84-63, to capture second place. They will have a home-court advantage against their next opponents, Pinar Karsiyaka or Hapoel Jerusalem.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 6 4 2 2 1 82.5 75.0 7.5 -1 -+-++ 2 Lenovo Tenerife 6 4 2 2 1 79.3 75.0 4.3 +1 +-+-+ 3 Prometey Kamianske 6 3 3 1 2 76.5 72.5 4 +2 ++-+- 4 Dinamo Sassari 6 1 5 1 2 70.2 86.0 -15.8 -2 --+--

Group B

Pinar Karsiyaka cruised past Ostrow Wielkopolski, 86-69, and at least temporarily rose to second place in Group B. Hapoel Jerusalem can push them from the second position if the Israeli club gets a win against BAXI Manresa next week.

BAXI Manresa are on top of the Group B table, and they cannot be moved from there.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 BAXI Manresa 5 5 0 2 0 80.4 71.0 9.4 +5 +++++ 2 Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir 6 3 3 1 2 75.5 79.2 -3.7 +1 +---+ 3 Hapoel Jerusalem 5 2 3 1 2 77.0 75.2 1.8 +2 ++--- 4 Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski 6 1 5 1 2 74.8 80.5 -5.7 -3 ---+-

Group C

Lavrio Megabolt, led by Tyson Carter, beat Unicaja, 70-58, in the last group's game and improved to 50% wins and losses ratio (3-3). They secured third place in Group C and will move on to the Play-In series, probably, without their leader Carter.

For Unicaja, this game was a mere formality as they had a guaranteed first place before the last round.

In the other match, Nizhny Novgorod prevailed in Dijon, 93-85, though the Russian team was eliminated anyway. Dijon captured second place, and a fight versus VEF Riga is awaiting them.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Unicaja Malaga 6 4 2 3 0 77.8 67.2 10.7 -1 -+-++ 2 JDA Dijon 6 3 3 3 0 73.7 72.2 1.5 -1 -++-+ 3 Lavrio Megabolt 6 3 3 3 0 68.5 73.3 -4.8 +1 +--+- 4 Nizhny Novgorod 6 2 4 2 1 76.5 83.8 -7.3 +1 +-+--

Group D

Falco Szombathely overtook VEF Riga's resistance, 68-59, and did not let NutriBullet Treviso in front. The latter team eased past outsiders AEK Athens, 81-69, occupying second place in Group D.

Treviso will play against Lavrio Megabolt in the Play-Ins and will have a home-court advantage.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Falco Szombathely 6 5 1 3 0 76.8 73.7 3.2 +3 +++-+ 2 NutriBullet Treviso 6 4 2 3 0 80.5 74.3 6.2 +1 +--++ 3 VEF Riga 6 2 4 2 1 77.2 79.0 -1.8 -1 -+-+- 4 AEK Athens 6 1 5 1 2 78.5 86.0 -7.5 -2 --+--

Group E

Even though Galatasaray Nef were the clear Group E leaders before the last match, they overcame ERA Nymburk, 92-86, and eliminated the Czech club from the BCL campaign. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell was on fire, going off for 20 points and 7 rebounds.

This means that the delayed match between PAOK and Igokea will decide which team will be the second or the third.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Galatasaray Istanbul 6 5 1 3 0 87.5 81.0 6.5 +3 +++-+ 2 Aleksandrovac Igokea 5 2 3 2 1 77.0 78.0 -1 +1 +---+ 3 ERA Nymburk 6 2 4 1 2 80.2 84.8 -4.7 -3 ---++ 4 PAOK Thessaloniki 5 2 3 1 1 75.6 76.8 -1.2 -1 -++--

Group F

Silas Melson posted 23 points while Kalev/Cramo edged out Tofas, 72-70. The contest was insignificant because the Turkish squad was already the Group F leaders.

Despite the heartwarming victory, Kalev finished their performance in the tournament.

Strasbourg and Oostende played for Play-Ins' home-court edge in the direct clash, as the Belgian club edged out Strasbourg, 92-91. However, the French squad had the upper hand in the final standings due to the better points difference between the two teams.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Tofas Bursa 6 4 2 2 1 80.5 77.2 3.3 -1 -+++- 2 SIG Strasbourg 6 3 3 1 2 81.8 81.5 0.3 -1 -+--+ 3 Filou Ostende 6 3 3 1 2 86.0 83.3 2.7 +1 +-++- 4 Kalev/Cramo Tallinn 6 2 4 1 2 77.2 83.5 -6.3 +1 +---+

Group G

Backed by Karel Guzman's 26 points, U-BT Cluj Napoca sneaked past Darussafaka, 103-101, and secured first place in Group G.

Whereas Hapoel Holon prevailed against Happy Casa Brindisi, 84-80, Darussafaka were down to third place. At the same time, the Israeli club captured the second spot and will have home-court advantage in the next phase over Besiktas Icrypex.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 U-BT Cluj Napoca 6 5 1 3 0 87.2 84.2 3 +3 +++-+ 2 Hapoel Holon 6 4 2 3 0 82.3 76.3 6 +2 ++--+ 3 Darussafaka Istanbul 6 2 4 2 1 76.5 78.3 -1.8 -2 --+-+ 4 Happy Casa Brindisi 6 1 5 1 2 77.3 84.5 -7.2 -2 --+--

Group H

Speedy Smith hit a couple of three-point daggers in a row to power Rytas Vilnius over San Pablo Burgos in the last group battle for the first place, 84-77.

Back-to-back BCL champions from San Pablo will have the home-court advantage in the Play-In series against the third seed of Group G, Darussafaka.

Besiktas finished the first stage on a high note, defeating Oldenburg, 88-72, and advancing to the Play-In as the third Group H team.

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Rytas Vilnius 6 4 2 3 0 79.2 73.7 5.5 +3 +++-+ 2 CB Miraflores Burgos 6 4 2 2 1 81.2 78.7 2.5 -1 -+++- 3 Besiktas Istanbul 6 3 3 2 1 78.5 79.7 -1.2 +1 +--++ 4 EWE Baskets Oldenburg 6 1 5 1 2 75.0 81.8 -6.8 -5 ----- Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.