Group F recap: Defending champs top group, Breogan slide into Play-Ins after four-way tie drama

MIES (Switzerland) - To prove the good old mantra that every point counts, the four teams in Group F all finished the Regular Season on 3-3 records.

The biggest winners were the defending champions, Telekom Baskets Bonn, who despite falling to Rio Breogan in overtime on Wednesday maintained the biggest overall point differential and thus advanced to the Round of 16.

The craziness of this night began in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter in Riga, where Hapoel Holon and Bursaspor Info Yatirim were in a too-close-for-comfort situation. Holon took the lead heading into the final ten seconds thanks to Shawn Dawson's three-pointer to make it 74-73.

It seemed the win would stay with Holon and this group would be done and dusted without any calculator needed. However, Johnathan Hamilton was fouled and made both free throws with virtually no time on the clock left, sealing Bursaspor's 75-74 win.

Hamilton was 5-of-8 from the free-throw line up until that point, but remained calm to finish with 15 points on the night. Anthony Brown was the best player for Bursa with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Shawn Dawson had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in a losing effort.

Bursaspor did not open up the floor for celebrations just yet, and it turned out they were just two seconds away from reaching the Play-Ins. That's because Telekom Baskets Bonn were leading up until that point against Rio Breogan, and the live standings would've had the Spaniards in the fourth place as the only team at 2-4.

However, Justin Anderson showed why the Spanish team brought him over to Europe this season. He drove to the rim, found an angle and banked his shot in to force overtime and keep Breogan in the game.

In OT, it was down to Stefan Momirov and Martynas Sajus to get the win for Rio Breogan. Momirov hit a big three-pointer for the lead, then found Sajus on an and-one layup, and Sajus finished things off before the 2023 champions could provoke another comeback.

The final score said 97-92 Breogan, creating a four-way tie at 3-3. However, Telekom Baskets Bonn had a 24-point differential overall, Holon were +7, Breogan +3 while Bursaspor were left at -34, meaning they got eliminated even with three wins in the closest Regular Season group of all time in the BCL.

Group F

		GAMES				GAME POINTS					POINTS
#	Team	P	W	L	%	For	Agt	+/-	FA	AA
1	Telekom Baskets Bonn	6	3	3	50.0	497	473	24	82.8	78.8	9
2	Hapoel Holon	6	3	3	50.0	463	456	7	77.2	76	9
3	Rio Breogan	6	3	3	50.0	462	459	3	77	76.5	9
4	Bursaspor Info Yatirim	6	3	3	50.0	439	473	-34	73.2	78.8	9

For Breogan, Sajus had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, Anderson counted to 18, while Momirov and Matas Jogela had 12 each. Matej Rudan was also in double digits with 13 points for his fellow Croat coach Veljko Mrsic.

Glynn Watson scored 19 for Bonn, who now move to Round of 16 Group F, next to JDA Bourgogne Dijon, still waiting for two Play-In winners.

Holon will have home court advantage against Filou Oostende, while Breogan need to steal at least one road win against Pinar Karsiyaka in the Play-Ins in January.