Oostende beats San Pablo Burgos in Basketball Championsleague

Filou Oostende outgunned Hereda San Pablo Burgos 99-98 on Tuesday to hand the reigning champions their first loss of the new season.

Hapoel Holon was the only other team to win at home on the night, as four of the six games ended in victory for the visiting team. Here’s a closer look at what happened in the six Tuesday games in Week 4 of the Regular Season:

Group H

Filou Oostende extended their perfect record against Spanish teams at home as they edged out reigning BCL champions Hereda San Pablo Burgos 99-98 in a thrilling clash that featured 20 lead changes.

The Belgians made their intentions known right from the start as they jumped to a 12-4 lead midway through the opening frame, but that 8-point gap proved the largest any team would enjoy on the night.

Burgos balanced proceedings shortly after the start of the second period, and the two teams traded blows the rest of the night, in a clash that was destined to go down to the wire.

Ken Horton knocked down a long jumper, and Vitor Benite followed up by drilling a triple 1:20 from the final buzzer and gave Burgos a 98-94 lead, but it once again was short-lived.

Jean-Marc Mwema replied with a triple of his own on the other end, Burgos misfired, and veteran Dusan Djordjevic scored what proved to be the game-winner 16 seconds from time, as Horton’s three-point attempt almost at the buzzer bounced out.

Olivier Troisfontaines came off the bench and poured in 23 points and added 4 assists and 3 rebounds in less than 19 minutes for Oostende, while Thomas Welsh had 14 points and 6 boards. Dejan Kravic had a game-high 19 points for Burgos in a losing effort.

Group B

ERA Nymburk squandered a 16-point lead and trailed by 10 but still managed to outlast Tofas Bursa 96-93 in overtime to claim their first win of the season.

The Czech team shot the ball well from beyond the arc early on and scored 16 points off Tofas turnovers to race to a 45-29 lead on an Omar Prewitt triple four minutes from the halftime buzzer.

DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, though, responded by drilling a triple of his own and sparked an 11-0 Tofas run to close the first half. The Bursa side picked up where they left off after the interval and a Berk Ugurlu layup 6:36 from the end of the third quarter put them in the driver’s seat, 50-48, for the first time on the night.

Tofas went on to lead by as many as 10 points, but Retin Obasohan drove to the Turkish basket again and again in the fourth stanza and drew fouls for Nymburk to reclaim the lead.

Prewitt scored with a layup to tie the scores at 81-81 with 34 seconds remaining in regulation, but Tofas appeared to be retaking the upper hand when Sean Kilpatrick converted a four-point play to give them an 88-84 lead with 4:08 left in overtime.

But Nymburk held the hosts scoreless for the next two minutes, and an Obasohan left-handed layup put Nymburk ahead, 91-88, and the visitors kept their calm at the stripe in the final minute to seal the deal.

Obasohan finished with 19 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds, while Hayden Dalton had a near double-double of 19 points and 9 boards. Ugurlu had 20 points and 9 assists in a losing effort.

Group E

Rytas held Strasbourg to just two points in the final six-minute stretch of their clash to snatch a vital 83-81 win in France, their first-ever success in the BCL, and improve to 1-1 in the Group E standings.

The Lithuanian side led by as many as 11 points in the second frame but a Bonzie Colson triple 5:15 from the end of third-quarter capped off an 18-9 Strasbourg burst, and the hosts claimed their first lead since the opening minutes, 60-57.

After Brandon Jefferson made his 8th triple of the night to stretch the gap to 79-73 with 6:11 left on the clock, Andrew Goudelock reacted with a beautiful baseline floater on the other end to stop the rot, and Rytas decided to tighten the screws on defense.

Martynas Echodas tied the scores at 81-81 from the free-throw line, and another Goudelock floater gave the Lithuanian side an 83-81 lead with just 25 seconds remaining.

Rytas managed to take away any clean looks from Strasbourg, and although the hosts rebounded an Ishmail Wainright miss 8 seconds from time, Bonzie Colson’s attempt almost at the buzzer rimmed out.

Echodas was excellent for the visitors and scored 15 of his team-high 23 points in the first half, while Mindaugas Girdziunas came off the bench and chipped in with 12 points.

The Rytas second unit contributed 31 crucial points, while Strasbourg got only 10 points off the bench. Jefferson erupted for a game-high 31 points while Colson finished with 23 points and 7 boards in losing efforts.

Group E

VEF Riga dominated the battle on the glass and snapped a seven-game losing streak on the road to celebrate their first-ever win away from Latvia in the BCL, 84-81 in Athens.

The visitors out-rebounded the hosts 26 to 10 in the first half – with 10 of those Latvian boards coming on the offensive glass – and claimed a 39-35 lead at the interval.

Peristeri reacted after the break, and Ioannis Athinaiou drilled a triple shortly after the start of the fourth stanza to put the Greeks ahead 65-61. Still, Kristers Zoriks poured in 5 points in quick succession, and Kyle Allman knocked down a trey to tie the scores at 71-71 right before the 6-minute mark.

With the scores tied at 79-79 and 44 seconds left on the clock, Allman came up with yet another big play and drove to the basket to put VEF ahead. Peristeri misfired on the other end, and Zoriks drew a foul to give Riga a 4-point cushion from the stripe with just 22 seconds remaining.

VEF outrebounded Peristeri 41 to 24 on the night, with Zoriks leading the way with his 20 points and 7 rebounds and Allman finishing on a near double-double of 16 points and 9 assists. Steven Gray, Tre McLean, and Abdul Gaddy finished with 15 points apiece for Peristeri in defeat.

Group C

Hapoel Holon led Cholet from start to finish as they stifled the French team’s offense to secure a 73-63 win at home, their first of the season, and improve to 1-1 in the Group C standings.

The Israeli side reached their first double-digit lead, 23-11, on a Guy Pnini triple right after the second quarter.

Cholet finally found some rhythm and reduced the deficit to two points, but C.J. Harris knocked down a trey and restored a five-point cushion, 41-36, eight before the halftime interval.

That shot proved important as Cholet never came as close again, and Holon controlled the boards, winning the battle on the glass 36 to 25, to keep their visitors at arm’s length the rest of the way.

Harris paced the winners with 25 points and 4 assists, and Isaiah Miles chipped in with 17 points for the winners, while Gerry Blakes finished with 19 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists for Cholet in a losing effort.

Group F

Bamberg raced to an 18-point first-half lead but had to turn back Bilbao down the stretch to register their second road win in as many games, 77-71 in Spain, and go top of Group F.

The German side held Bilbao to just seven points in the opening frame to build an early double-digit gap, and Christian Sengfelder converted an old-fashioned three-point play to stretch the lead to 33-15 with 4:40 remaining to the halftime buzzer.

Bilbao regained their composure after the interval and started chipping away at the gap, with Quentin Serron capping off a 7-0 mini-run by the hosts with a jumper 4:09 from the end to tie the scores at 65-65.

Chase Fieler had seen enough of the hosts’ surge and stopped the rot by drawing a foul and knocking down two free-throws on the other end, and the same player sunk a triple 2:26 from time to give Bamberg a 71-65 lead.

With Bamberg leading 75-71 and 12 seconds on the clock, Serron missed a trey, and David Kravish sealed the seal for Bamberg with a dunk.

Bamberg struggled from beyond the arc and shot only 8 for 22 from three, but that showing was decent compared to Bilbao’s 4 of 24 from downtown.

Kravish led all Bamberg scorers with 18 points, and Fieler finished with 14 points, while Jaylon Brown had 17 points for Bilbao in defeat.