MIES (Switzerland) - With Joventut Badalona already sure about making it to the Round of 16 and Bursaspor Basketbol unable to compete anymore for a spot in the Play-Ins, two teams had their future uncertain in Group C.
Cholet Basket faced the black-and-green side at home, while Hapoel Netanel Holon had a road clash with Bursaspor in Bulgaria. Who gained the home-court advantage in the Play-Ins? Stay with us to find out.
Cholet Basket 87-89 Joventut Badalona
Heading into their last game of the BCL Regular Season, Cholet had a slight advantage over Hapoel Holon: with a victory, the Israeli team's result wouldn't matter for the French side.
However, in front of them, there was an unbeaten team, ready to make another statement in their first season playing in the BCL, potentially joining Besiktas (2016-17), Virtus Bologna (2018-19), and Dreamland Gran Canaria (2025-26) as the only teams capable of winning their first six games in the competition.
While Cholet erased Joventut's 17-point lead to keep hoping about a victory, Camerun Hunt had the game-winning jumper for Badalona's 89-87 road victory. The unbeaten streak continues, as they are now 6-0.
Ludde Hakanson led Badalona with 17 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds, while three more players ended in double-digits for the Catalan side, including Michael Ruzic (15 points and 7 rebounds) and Cameron Hunt (15 points).
"It was a difficult game. I think we started off really well, though. We started with a good rhythm, controlling the pace but then they raised their physicality, and also tactically, they started playing zone, which I think messed us up a little bit. So, they came back, and it was just back and forth for the rest of the game," the 19-year-old Croat said.
With 3 blocks also to his name, he became only the third teenager in BCL history to get 15+ points, 5+ rebounds and 3+ blocks, joining his compatriot Ante Zizic (October 2016) and Mouhamed Faye (October 2024).
Finishing Group C not only in first place, but on an unbeaten run, Joventut will now clash with Unicaja in the BCL Spanish derby, being drawn in Group K alongside two winners from the Play-In series.
Losing at home both the final game of the BCL Regular Season and the possibility of playing with home-court advantage in the Play-Ins, Cholet concluded on a 3-3 record in 3rd position in Group C.
The French team will now face Tofas Bursa, which beat Trapani Shark on Tuesday to finish 2nd in Group D.
In his first game for Cholet, Deandre Gholston had a 17-point losing effort, which also included the shot to temporarily tie at 87-87 late in the fourth.
Bursaspor Basketbol 83-92 Hapoel Netanel Holon
With Cholet losing their game and Hapoel Holon coming out victorious in Bulgaria, the 3-3 tie between the two teams would have led to the Israeli side advancing with the 2nd position in Group C.
That's exactly what happened, with Danny Franco's team capable of winning 92-83 against the Turkish team, which ended their BCL Regular Season on a winless note, at the bottom with a 0-6 record.
Except for a brief period in the third quarter, Bursaspor never had control of the encounter, as Hapoel Holon managed to lead for as many as 33:31 minutes of action in Samokov's Arena SamElyon.
Local players were huge for the purple-and-gold side, as demonstrated by the performances provided by both Idan Zalmanson (23 points over 9-of-11 from the field) and Netanel Artzi (21 points and 5 rebounds).
Derrick Walton Jr. also had an all-around night with 14 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds in the win.
Following such results, Hapoel Holon have now gained home-court advantage in the Play-Ins, where they will face Trapani in January. The Italians finished in 3rd position in Group D.
Both Bryant Crawford and Malik Parsons had 17 points in Bursaspor's latest defeat in Season X.