MIES (Switzerland) - It's really that time of the year: the first Wednesday of the 2025-26 Basketball Champions League Regular Season, powered by Ameresco SUNEL already delivered with afternoon's action.
Hapoel Netanel Holon, NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz, and Tofas Bursa got their first victories of the season, with outstanding individual performances. Let's find out in depth what happened to start Wednesday.
Tofas Bursa 90-86 Bnei Penlink Herzliya
It was a rollercoaster battle in Bulgaria between Tofas and Bnei Penlink Herzliya, which were up by 14 points (74-60) with one minute to go in the third quarter.
Then, the Turkish team's comeback happened.
With a 22-6 run, which led them all the way to the 82-80 lead in the fourth, the dynamic duo composed of Marek Blazevic (25 points, 12 rebounds) and Hugo Besson (20 points) sparked the 90-86 opening week's victory.
The point guard shot 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while the whole team finished with a 47.4 percent from the arc.
Following 14 lead changes, Emil Rajkovik's team eventually stood on top, getting the first victory in Group D, waiting for the clash between Trapani Shark and La Laguna Tenerife.
Elijah Stewart had a 23-point losing effort for the Israeli side.
Hapoel Netanel Holon 84-74 Bursaspor Basketbol
History repeats itself. Just like it happened back in 2023-24, the first Regular Season clash between Holon and Bursaspor Basketball ended with the Israeli side taking the win, 84-74.
Despite a slow start, the trio composed of Derrick Walton Jr (20 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds), Xavier Munford (26 points, 8 rebounds), and Jordan McRae (19 points) stepped up to lead the Tigers.
Their 29-17 run in the third stanza was ultimately decisive in escaping with the victory.
Bursaspor, which made their way to Season X through the Qualifiers, couldn't get back into the game in the second half.
Landry Nnoko (16 points and 7 rebounds) and Brandon Childress (14 points and 5 assists) were the best among the Crocodiles on the day.
"I'm very happy we won this one. I'm sure we're gonna get even better in the future, but every win in BCL right now is like gold for us," Danny Franco shared about his team's victory.
"We did what we wanted in the first half. We were aggressive, we moved the ball well, and we made good shots. As I said in the locker room, the game revolved around 3 guys: Walton, Munford, and McRae," Markovic opened.
"If you see the stats, these guys shot 46 shots. In the second half, we needed to be more focused on them, not give them their shots. Our defense was not so good, and on offense we missed too many open shots."
NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz 84-54 Patrioti Levice
In the 2016-17 BCL Regular Season, the opening campaign of the competition, NHSZ-Szolnoki collected only two victories out of 14 games played. Both times, they prevailed at home.
Nine years later, pretty much nothing has changed in that regard, as the Hungarians won 84-54 in their first domestic encounter of Season X, completely dismantling Patrioti Levice in a no-contest 40-minute clash.
The home team completely out-rebounded (49-29) and out-assisted (21-5) the opponents. Moreover, the Hungarians dominated in the paint, outscoring Levice 34-18 close to the basket.
Ryland Holt (19 points and 7 rebounds), Adam Somogyi (15 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds), and Brady Skeens (7 points and 18 rebounds) were among the main protagonists.
"What can I say? That was one really good defensive game from us. I think we really prepared well. [...] The guys showed character, they showed teamwork, team basketball. After 5 or 6 minutes, we found the rhythm we wanted to play," Vedran Bosnic said.
Will Carius, who had the winning shot to push the Slovakian champs to the BCL Regular Season, had a 14-point losing effort in Hungary.
Following this result, Olajbanyasz have now reached AEK BC on top of Group F, as the black-and-gold team beat VEF Riga in Latvia. They will go up against each other on October 15 at 18:30 CET.