BCL Round of 16 field complete as gripping Play-Ins come to an end

All Round of 16 groups in the 2023-24 Basketball Champions League were confirmed on Wednesday night, upon the completion of a surprise-packed Play-Ins stage that kept fans on the edge of their seats and set a new record.

For the first time since the Play-Ins became a part of the competition’s format, in the 2021-22 season, four of the eight Play-Ins winners did not have homecourt advantage in their respective series.

To further add to the unpredictable flavor of this season’s Play-Ins, five of the eight best-of-three series needed to be resolved in a tie-breaking Game 3.

The most unpredictable of those was the series between PAOK mateco and Tofas Bursa, as neither team won a game on its homecourt. In Game 3, Tofas sealed the series win with an 84-71 victory in a spectacular basketball atmosphere, in front of a sellout crowd in Thessaloniki on Tuesday.

Big crowds turned out also at the two tie-breaking games that concluded the Play-Ins stage, on Wednesday. In Izmir, Pinar Karsiyaka held off Rio Breogan to reach an 86-76 win and seal their passage. In Cholet, hosts Cholet Basket prevailed 93-77 over Banco di Sardegna Sassari to complete an impressive 2-1 series turnaround, as they had lost Game 1 at home two weeks previously.

In the other two series that went to Game 3 Hapoel Holon, who edged out Filou Oostende 78-72, and MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg, who breezed past Darüssafaka Lassa 99-73, won at home to book their place in the Round of 16.

Galatasaray EKMAS, Peristeri bwin and Promitheas Patras were the only teams that completed a 2-0 sweep of their respective opponents in the Play-Ins and therefore punched their ticket to the Round of 16 a week earlier.

The eight group winners of the Regular Season – Unicaja, JDA Bourgogne Dijon, Lenovo Tenerife, AEK BETSSON BC, SIG Strasbourg, Telekom Baskets Bonn, Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and UCAM Murcia – had secured directly their Round of 16 berth and have been expecting the eight Play-In winners in the next stage.

The landing spot of each team in the Round of 16 was predetermined by the pre-season draw, so the four groups are as follows:

GROUP I: Unicaja (ESP); SIG Strasbourg (FRA); Cholet Basket (FRA); Tofas Bursa (TUR).

GROUP J: JDA Bourgogne Dijon (FRA); Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER); MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (GER); Galatasaray EKMAS (TUR).

GROUP K: Lenovo Tenerife (ESP); Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (ISR); Peristeri bwin (GRE); Pinar Karsiyaka (TUR).

GROUP L: AEK BETSSON BC (GRE); UCAM Murcia (ESP); Promitheas Patras (GRE); Hapoel Holon (ISR).

The Round of 16 will get underway next week, on Tuesday, January 23, and will follow a round-robin format, in home and away games.

It is set to conclude on March 20, with the two teams that finish in the top two spots in each group qualifying for the Quarter-Finals.

The draw to determine the Quarter-Finals and Final Four brackets will take place after the end of the Round of 16 and will be livestreamed on the official BCL YouTube Channel.