MIES (Switzerland) - Game 3 of the Play-Ins in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, is the kind of basketball you can't miss. Pallacanestro Trieste's crazy win on Tuesday proved it.
On Wednesday, we realized how crucial playing such a do-or-die encounter in front of your fans can truly be. Both Tofas Bursa and Fitness First Würzburg Baskets can now celebrate getting to the Round of 16.
Tofas Bursa 84-82 Cholet Basket
Playing in front of their people, Tofas went up by 16 points (58-42) midway through the third quarter in Game 3 against Cholet Basket. However, that wasn't enough to already think safely ahead of the Round of 16.
Nathan De Sousa had a crazy half-court shot to bring Cholet down to a single possession with five seconds to go, and attempted another one to win it all at the buzzer. It didn't go in, as Tofas prevailed 84-82.
Marek Blazevic was dominant with 23 points (10-of-11 FG), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
"It was a tough series with a great opponent. Great three games. We're of course very happy that we won, that we qualified further. At this moment we have this weird feeling, we should be happy that we won the game, but we're not satisfied how we played the game, at the end of the game, especially in the last possession, where we should inbound the ball and we made a turnover. I think what we need is a good night's sleep, regroup and get better," Blazevic said.
His frontcourt teammate, Yigitcan Saybir, had a perfect night from the field (5-of-5) and finished as his team's second-highest scorer at 14 points. He also had 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals in the making.
Leading Cholet with an 18-point winning effort in Game 2, McNeace was still the French team's highest scorer at 14 points, but it wasn't enough for the red-and-white team.
After this victory, the Turkish team joined the stacked competition of ALBA BERLIN, AEK BC, and Karditsa Iaponiki in Group J of the Round of 16.
Fitness First Würzburg Baskets 92-71 Patrioti Levice
The first game of the night on Wednesday saw the encounter go down to the wire, balanced until the very last clutch possession. In Germany, instead, things were already decided after a shocking 24-5 run in the third.
Going out from the locker rooms at halftime more confident than ever, Wurzburg escaped all the way to a 28-point lead (86-58), never looking back and eliminating Patrioti Levice from contention with the 92-71 win.
Marcus Carr led a collective effort to inspire the German team's crucial victory in Game 3; he finished with a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists, grabbing 5 rebounds and shooting 3-of-6 from deep.
"First of all, credit to Levice; they gave us a good series. Credit to them, I'm sure they've been having a good season and pushing us to this 3rd game really just allowed us to compete and get better. Hats off to them. Obviously we're excited to get this win and keep moving on. This is what we wanted, what we were looking forward to this season, to get a chance to compete with these teams now. Now it's just about us regrouping and making sure we're ready for the next stage," Carr said.
Six more players scored in double-digits against the Slovakians: Eddy Edigin (14), Davion Mintz (11), David Muenkat (11), Ryan Schwieger (11), Charles Thompson (10), and Johnathan Stove (10).
Levice's dreaming run, which started back at the BCL Qualifiers, came to an end despite another stellar night by their backcourt duo: both Rickey McGill and Andre Wesson Jr. had a 20-point losing effort.
The German team's campaign in Season X will continue in Group K of the Round of 16, facing Joventut Badalona, Unicaja, and Elan Chalon in the next phase.