MIES (Switzerland) - After eight games full of intense atmospheres and close action on Tuesday, the Opening Round of the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, continues to deliver.
Wednesday started with four encounters in Greece, Czechia, Türkiye, and Lithuania. We really hope you didn't miss them, because they had it all. In case, we've got you covered: here are four takeaways from these clashes.
AEK comeback, again
Playing their first game in Season 11, AEK BC became the only team in BCL history to participate in all eleven seasons of the competition since its start, back in 2016-17.
They did it by facing their 58th opponent in the league, the debuting Salon Vilpas, that earned their way from Finland through the BCL Qualifiers. And despite such a legacy, they continue to surprise us.
The Greeks were down by three points with 20 seconds to play, and still managed to bring it home, winning 95-93 at the end of a forty-minute battle.
The Queen of comebacks has returned.
Everything happened in the last minute of the game. Thomas Heurtel gave AEK a 90-89 lead with 1:04 remaining, and then Vilpas fought back with a hook shot by D.J. Jeffries and a perfect trip to the line.
Coming out of timeout, Frank Bartley (27 points) knocked it down from deep; the debutants had the shot to win it, but Leland Walker took it too fast, allowing Heurtel to score in transition with a second left, sealing the deal.
It was pure madness of the final 20 seconds, or as they call it in Athens over these 10 years - a regular Wednesday.
They are a very well-coached team, and they played really hard. They gave us a lot of problems. Obviously, [Leland] Walker was a really tough matchup, and he’s a special young player.
"Coach talked about respecting our opponents since day one. We have a target on our backs coming from the Championship Game last year, and everybody is gunning for us."
"We have to be ready to play every time we step on the court," the MVP of Season X also said.
After dragging the Finnish team to their first-ever BCL Regular Season appearance, Walker had his welcoming party to the league. He concluded with 28 points and 7 assists, joined by Karl Chavis' 21 points and 7 boards.
Trabzonspor after 11 years
It was a chaotic ending in SUNEL Arena, flirting with an overtime between AEK and Vilpas. The very first OT of the season, instead, took place in Hayri Gur Spor Salonu, where Trabzonspor served Nanterre 92 a cold revenge.
Losing to the French team 11 years ago in the FIBA EuroChallenge Final, the Turkish team had to suffer to find their first victory in the BCL, but ultimately made it by winning 93-83 after added five minutes of action.
The hosts almost blew a 12-point lead (64-52) at the end of the third quarter, built play after play following a slow start. They still need to learn how to utilize all of their offensive star power.
On Wednesday, the show was definitely stolen by Marcus Keene, who was the latest one joining the Turkish side after an impressive summer transfer market. He had 24 points and 6 assists, with six points and a pair of assists coming in OT.
Brady Manek, who had the shot to force overtime, concluded with a 12-point winning effort; four more players scored in double digits for Trabzonspor, including Yigit Arslan, who had 15 points (5-of-7 3FG) off the bench.
Four players concluded by scoring 10+ points for the French side, despite the loss: Donta Scott (15 points over 3-of-7 from deep), Benjamin Sene (13 and 8 assists), Xavier Castaneda (10+6), and Len Schoormann (10+3).
Three is the magic number for ALBA
In their first season in the BCL, ALBA BERLIN went up against ERA Nymburk twice. Pedro Calles' team won both clashes by more than 12 points, and averaged 91 points in those two games.
Entering Season 11, they once again met the Czech powerhouse. Even though they are known this season as SK Slavia Praha ERA NBK, nothing changed. Well, the outcome didn't change, but the gap was even larger.
ALBA didn't have any sort of issue, staying ahead for 36:46 minutes and ending their evening with the 110-86 road win. The third one against such an opponent. The second triple-digit win in the 2026-27 Group Stage.
It looks like three was the magic number for the German League reigning champions, as they had a magnificent time shooting three-pointers. They shot 19-of-37 (51.35%) from beyond the arc.
"The focus today was on energy, effort, and intensity, getting back to the values that ALBA BERLIN is built on," Brandon Angel, who led ALBA in scoring with 21 points on 7-of-10 from the field, said after the win.
He was one of ALBA's six players who concluded the night in double digits, joining Jordan Ford (16 points and 7 assists), Joe Wieskamp (16 over 4-of-8 from deep), Sam Griesel (14), Malte Delow (14), and Jack Kayil (10 with 9 assists).
The German side didn't even have Martin Hermansson on the court; the Icelandic veteran recently extended his contract after finishing 2025-26 as MVP of the Bundesliga Finals.
For the hosts, Ronaldo Segu's 15 points and 8 assists, alongside Nana Owusu-Anane's double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, weren't enough.
Willy in MVP mode
GTA VI hasn't come out yet, but we know for a fact there's already someone who has found the cheat codes. That's how Willy Hernangomez approached his first game in the BCL for Unicaja: breaking it.
The iconic Spanish center, who moved to Malaga from Barcelona in the summer, set the tone early for the former back-to-back champions, leading them to the 105-69 road win against BC Juventus Utena.
Hernangomez concluded with an impressive stat line of 23 points (8-of-8 FG, 7-of-8 FT), 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, but he already had 16 points and 7 rebounds in less than nine minutes at halftime.
Amine Noua (19 points on 7-of-10) and Cameron Hunt (14 points on 5-of-8 from the field) followed him and proved right away that Txus Vidorreta's Unicaja will heavily count on newcomers.
The hosts had 14 points from both Chase Hunter and Sarunas Beniusis.