MIES (Switzerland) - National team basketball is beautiful, isn't it? In the latest days, we have enjoyed dramatic clashes everywhere with countries competing on the road to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027, and more.
But now that the break is over, we get back on track with a five-game schedule in Tuesday's action in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL.
Season X has finally returned, everybody!
Sabah BC vs. ERA Nymburk - Group B, 17:00 CET
Sabah BC are still looking for their first victory in the BCL but will face the team against whom they suffered their heaviest defeat in the competition (-28 vs. ERA Nymburk in October); however, their two defeats at home happened by single-digit margins, including a two-point loss against Elan Chalon in their last game.
Nymburk are on a three-game losing sequence, but have never lost more on the bounce in a single BCL season; their last seven road games ended with margins of 12 or more points (W5 L2).
Of Sabah's 74.8 points scored per game, 49.5 percent have been scored in the paint, the highest dependence amongst all teams in the BCL in 2025-26.
Nymburk's bench players have scored 50.5 points per game, the most of any second unit in the BCL this season; in fact, 59.2 percent of their total points have been scored by players coming off the bench, also the highest ratio in the league in 2025-26.
Sir’ Jabari Rice (Nymburk) has scored 20 or more points in each of his first four games in the BCL, while only TJ Shorts II has scored that much in each of his first five appearances in the competition; however, Rice has done it while coming from the bench in all his games played.
Both teams are still unbeaten in their respective national leagues, as Sabah took down Sheki 115-83 on the road in Azerbaijan, while Nymburk improved to 15-0 in the standings by beating Basket Brno 95-57 with Jaromir Bohacik's 20 points in Czechia.
Bnei Penlink Herzliya vs. Tofas Bursa - Group D, 18:00 CET
Bnei Penlink Herzliya have lost all their four games in the BCL this season, already as many defeats as in their entire 2022-23 campaign (W2 L4); they are one of three teams allowing more than 90 points per game in BCL history (90.5ppg, also Torun with 96.1ppg and Opava with 95.1ppg).
Tofas Bursa have lost their last two BCL games (both against La Laguna Tenerife) after winning the first two this season; Tofas' victories in the current campaign ended with margins of four or fewer points.
Of Tofas' made field goals in the BCL this season, 78.2 percent have been scored from two-point range, the highest ratio of any team in the BCL this season.
Elijah Stewart has scored 16 or more points in each of his four BCL games with Bnei Herzliya, his longest such run in the competition, while making multiple three-pointers in each of those fixtures; he had a total of five 16+ points performances in 14 appearances in his previous season in the competition.
Hugo Besson has scored 15 or more points in each of his last five games with 20 or more minutes played in the BCL, including in his two such appearances with Tofas this season; his highest scoring performance this season was in the reverse fixture against Bnei Herzliya, making 20 points off the bench in early October.
Max Heidegger and Elijah Stewart combined for 55 points in Bnei Herzliya's 107-96 win against Maccabi Ra'ananna; Furkan Korkmaz and Marek Blazevic each had 16 points, but Tofas lost 92-87 on the road against Trabzonspor.
Karditsa Iaponiki vs. Mersin Sports Club - Group G, 19:00 CET
The last two Karditsa Iaponiki’s games in the BCL have been won by the team trailing at halftime; three of Karditsa's four games in the competition have ended with margins of eight or fewer points.
Mersin Sports Club will play their third road game in the BCL, with the previous two ending with margins of 18 or more points: the Turkish side won on their most recent trip (104-86 at Filou Oostende) after losing their first away game (66-97 at Unicaja).
Karditsa have scored 14.5 points per game in second chance situations in the BCL this season; 19 percent of their total points have been scored from such situations, the highest ratio in the league this term.
Brandon Jefferson has scored 12 or more points in each of his four games played with Karditsa in the BCL, including a 20-point performance against Mersin in the reverse fixture; Jefferson has made multiple threes in each of his four BCL games this season.
Anthony Cowan (Mersin) has scored more than 12 points in three of his four games in the BCL this season, with the only exception being against Karditsa (6pts); in fact, that was the only time in his 19 league appearances in which he didn't score a single free-throw.
Both Karditsa (80-87 at home against Iraklis) and Mersin (88-77 on the road against Buyukcekmece) weren't successful in their respective domestic clashes over the weekend in Greece and Türkiye.
Elan Chalon vs. ALBA BERLIN - Group B, 20:30 CET
Elan Chalon have won all their four games in the BCL this season, their longest winning sequence in a single league campaign; the French side have scored more than 80 points in each of their four BCL games this season, after doing it in three of their 14 fixtures in their previous league campaign, in 2017-18.
ALBA BERLIN have won their last three BCL games, with their only defeat this season coming against Chalon in their league debut: that was also the only fixture in which ALBA scored fewer than 80 points and allowed more than 80.
Chalon have made (21.3) and attempted (31.5) the most free throws per game in the BCL this season; they have drawn 27.8 fouls per game, while no other team has averaged more than 24 in the BCL in 2025-26.
ALBA have allowed the fewest three-pointers per game in the BCL this season, with their opponents making 5.5 shots per game from behind the arc; they have also the third-best defensive three-point percentage in the league thus far, allowing their opponents to score 25.6 percent of their attempted threes.
Chalon's Lionel Gaudoux has grabbed 18 offensive rebounds in his first four games played in the BCL: if he gets 3+ offensive boards against ALBA, he will become the sixth player to have had more than 20 such rebounds at the end of his first five games played in the competition.
Jeremiah Hill had a masterpiece 35-point winning effort to lead Chalon to the 93-87 victory away from home in Le Mans; ALBA, instead, won 89-83 at home against Skyliners Frankfurt with Jack Kayil's 21 points and 6 assists.
Filou Oostende vs. Unicaja - Group G, 20:30 CET
Filou Oostende have lost all their four BCL games this season but are yet to endure on a longer losing sequence over a single campaign; they have won just one of their previous five BCL matchups with Unicaja, but that sole victory happened at home (86-68 in March 2022).
Unicaja have won 29 of their last 30 games in the BCL, but their lone defeat in that span happened on the road (84-86 at Galatasaray); Unicaja have scored 100+ points in each of their last two BCL fixtures, but only Cluj Napoca have done it in more consecutive games in league history.
Unicaja have the highest offensive ratio in the BCL this season, averaging 127.8 points per 100 possessions; they also have the highest assist ratio, dishing out an assist in 21.9 percent of their possessions.
The 21-year-old Noam Yaacov has already had one double-double with Oostende in the BCL this season, but only two players in league history have had multiple double-doubles with points and assists before turning 22 years old: Tamir Blatt and a former Filou Oostende player, Keye van der Vuurst de Vries, both with two double-doubles.
Aleksander Balcerowski has scored more than 12 points in each of his last two BCL games with Unicaja after never scoring in double digits in any of his previous 15 games in the competition.
Noam Yaacov hasn't only shone in the BCL, but also in the BNXT League, where he recently propelled Oostende's 97-81 win over Heroes Den Bosch with a 37-point performance; Olek Balcerowski's good period continued with 19 points and 9 rebounds in Unicaja's 89-88 tough road victory at Hipos Lleida.