BCL Matchday 1: Perfect Start for Spanish Teams

The Basketball Champions League couldn't have started better for the Liga Endesa. All four Spanish teams won in the first matchday. Unicaja and UCAM Murcia dominated with victories of more than 25 points; Asisa Joventut overcame an early deficit with a composed performance, and Surne Bilbao won convincingly away at Igokea. It's a start that fits the tradition: Spanish teams have won four of the ten previous editions of the competition.

The Spanish Teams

Juventus Utena 69-105 Unicaja. Txus Vidorreta's team, seeking their third BCL title, secured their first official victory of the season in Lithuania after an 0-2 start in the Liga Endesa. Willy Hernangómez (23 points, 9 rebounds, 32 rating) dominated the paint from the first quarter (8-20), and the third quarter (19-34) put the game out of reach. Amine Noua added 19 points and Kalinoski made his debut with three three-pointers. The lead reached 39 points (62-101).

UCAM Murcia 85-58 Itelyum Varese. Sito Alonso's team ran over a European historic club. They started slowly (5-5 at five minutes), but a run took them to 16-8 in the first quarter and 39-22 at halftime. Varese closed to 13 (43-30) and UCAM responded with a 7-0 run that settled the matter. Dylan Ennis scored 16 points and Juani Marcos filled the stat sheet: 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Asisa Joventut 86-75 Bnei Penlink Herzliya. Asisa Joventut trailed 6-14 at five minutes, with eight straight points from Amit Gershon, but Nico Laprovittola led the comeback from the bench and the first quarter ended 18-16. A second quarter of 24-17 opened up the lead and the big men did the rest: Emir Sulejmanovic finished with 20 points and 23 rating, and Simon Birgander ended 7-for-7 from the field with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

Igokea 79-92 Surne Bilbao. Jaume Ponsarnau's team won convincingly in Bosnia, led by Bastien Vautier (19 points) and Martin Krampelj (12). Lazar Stefanovic, with 17, was Igokea's leading scorer.

The Rest of the Matchday

Overtime in Trabzon. The most exciting game was Trabzonspor-Nanterre. Brady Manek forced overtime and the Turkish team won it 17-7 to close out a 93-83 victory with 24 points from Marcus Keene.

Heurtel decides in Athens. AEK salvaged their debut against Finnish side Salon Vilpas (95-93) with late baskets from Thomas Heurtel and 27 points from Frank Bartley. For the Finns, Leland Walker scored 28 points and 7 assists.

The Blowouts. The largest margin of the matchday was Strasbourg's, who won 100-62 over Legia. Spartak Subotica won by 32 over Vechta (96-64) and ALBA Berlin topped 100 in Prague (86-110), with 21 points from Brandon Angel.

Battle, in scoring mode. Khalif Battle scored 32 points in Cibona's 96-76 win over Galatasaray, one of the most surprising results of the matchday.

The Others. Cholet won on the road at Hapoel Holon (79-99), despite 22 points and 13 rebounds from Adama Sanogo. Peristeri topped Bamberg (93-87), a group D rival of UCAM Murcia; Rytas beat Sabah (82-73), Reggiana beat Pardubice (82-65), Antwerp Giants beat Szombathely (99-93) and Bonn beat Porto (78-74), in Asisa Joventut's group.

Matchday 1 Results