Kalev/Cramo wins first Basketball Champions League game ever

Even a two-game day provides drama in the Basketball Champions League. Kalev/Cramo won their first-ever game in the competition, and they’ve done it on the road in Turkey, but Jerrick Harding and ERA Nymburk grabbed the headlines in Greece.

It was never even supposed to be a close game. Czech champs had an 11-point lead with less than three minutes to play, only to see PAOK go on a wild run and even grab the lead as Malcolm Griffin found Marvin Jones for an and-one layup with 5.0 left on the game clock.

Down 83-82, coach Aleksander Sekulic called for time and drew up a play for Vojtech Hruban. The Czech legend fumbled the ball, but it dropped perfectly for Jerrick Harding, who showed elite understanding of the game clock and launched a one-legged shot. It fell just in time; ERA Nymburk won it 84-83.

Kalev/Cramo was facing a similar outcome as PAOK, after losing their first game in the last second in Strasbourg and playing a close one against Tofas Bursa. But Silas Melson and his teammates ensured that the Estonian champions picked up their first-ever win in this competition, outlasting their hosts 81-77.