MUNICH (Germany) - The 2019-20 FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season tipped in style on Tuesday night as Donar Groningen and U-BT Cluj Napoca opened with hard-fought victories.

Donar Gronigen have advanced from the first group phase in each of the past three seasons and Donte Thomas ensured they are on their way to another Second Round appearance. The American forward posted a 26-point performance with 9-of-10 shooting from inside the arc along with 8 rebounds in a 75-63 victory over Phoenix Brussels.

"It was a really solid game, team effort on our end," commented Thomas. "We really executed our game plan. They battled, but we battled even harder and thank you to our fans - they were great tonight.

"The energy is great and I feed off that. When the crowd is hyped and everyone is yelling, it really gives me energy and takes me back to college days when the whole gym is jumping. When you get a dunk and they go crazy, I love that!"

Shane Hammink weighed in with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists with Thomas Koenis also adding an all-round effort of 9 points, 11 boards and 7 assists in the win.

Thomas' triple capped a 16-6 opening for the Dutch side, but Brussels recovered from a slow start and tied the game at 38-38 with the first five points of the third quarter. Groningen re-established control and edged a low-scoring final period to make sure of the victory.

Meanwhile, U-BT Cluj Napoca - one of three Romanian sides in the competition - needed to hold off a spirited fightback from Sodertalje Kings to earn themselves an 86-80 triumph on the road.

Donatas Tarolis led the way with 20 points along with 9 rebounds with valuable support coming from Darko Planinic's 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists, while Artis Ate and Patrick Richard both added 15 points apiece.

Richard connected with a dagger three-pointer in the final minute to repel the hosts after they had battled back from 16 points down at 55-39 to close within a single point late in the fourth.

The Gameday 1 action continues on Wednesday with a mouth-watering 14 games taking place.

FIBA