1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
League	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
Sport	Basketball
Finals
Champions	Simmenthal Milano
Runners-up	Crvena zvezda

The 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the sixth edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 4 December 1971, to 21 March 1972. It was contested by 21 teams, five less than in the previous edition, and it marked a reform in the competition's format; a 6-team group stage was introduced, replacing the quarterfinals.^[1]

Defending champion, Simmenthal Milano, defeated Crvena zvezda in the final, which returned to a single game format, to win its second trophy, becoming the first team to successfully defend its title.^[2] It was the third title in a row for an Italian League team. This season's FIBA European Champions Cup final, also featured Italian and Yugoslav League teams, with the same outcome.

Participants

Country Teams Clubs Italy 2 Fides Napoli Simmenthal Milano Albania 1 Partizani Tirana Austria 1 Handelsministerium Belgium 1 Racing Bell Mechelen Bulgaria 1 Levski-Spartak Czechoslovakia 1 Spartak ZJŠ Brno Denmark 1 Gladsaxe England 1 Sutton & Crystal Palace Finland 1 Helsingin Kisa-Toverit France 1 Denain-Voltaire Greece 1 AEK Israel 1 Maccabi Haifa Luxembourg 1 Arantia Larochette Netherlands 1 Fiat Stars Portugal 1 Coimbra Spain 1 Juventud Schweppes Syria 1 Ghouta Turkey 1 Beşiktaş West Germany 1 Mainz Yugoslavia 1 Crvena zvezda

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Spartak ZJŠ Brno	224–150	Arantia Larochette	111–65	113–85
Fides Napoli	164–120	Mainz	82–49	82–71
Juventud Schweppes	4–0*	Partizani Tirana	2–0	2–0
Sutton & Crystal Palace	171–118	Gladsaxe	83–68	88–50
Maccabi Haifa	158–200	Denain-Voltaire	82–109	76–91
Racing Bell Mechelen	190–144	Coimbra	113–71	77–73
Ghouta	0–4*	Levski-Spartak	0–2	0–2
AEK	139–111	Beşiktaş	72–45	67–66
Handelsministerium	4–0*	Fiat Stars	2–0	2–0
Crvena zvezda	196–139	Helsingin Kisa-Toverit	95–62	101–77

*Partizani Tirana (for political reasons), Ghouta and Blue Stars Amsterdam all withdrew before the first leg, and their rivals received a forfeit (2-0) in both games.

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Spartak ZJŠ Brno	151–168	Fides Napoli	69–76	82–92
Juventud Schweppes	217–107	Sutton & Crystal Palace	120–62	97–45
Denain-Voltaire	146–158	Racing Bell Mechelen	74–68	72–90
Levski-Spartak	170–184	AEK	103–69	67–115
Handelsministerium	158–205	Crvena zvezda	90–97	68–108

Automatically qualified to the quarter finals group stage

• Simmenthal Milano (title holder)

Quarterfinals

The quarter finals were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record.

Group A 1st leg 2nd leg Agg Fides Napoli - Racing Bell Mechelen 97-82 77-90 177-172 Juventud Schweppes - Fides Napoli 83-69 66-92 149-161 Racing Bell Mechelen - Juventud Schweppes 96-77 57-77 153-154 Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1. Fides Napoli 2 4 2 0 335 321 +14 2. Juventud Schweppes 2 3 1 1 303 314 -11 3. Racing Bell Mechelen 2 2 0 2 325 328 -3

Group B 1st leg 2nd leg Agg AEK - Simmenthal Milano 57-84 76-117 133-201 Crvena zvezda - AEK 100-63 76-100 176-163 Simmenthal Milano - Crvena zvezda 86-62 58-84 144-146 Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1. Crvena zvezda 2 4 2 0 322 307 +15 2. Simmenthal Milano 2 3 1 1 345 279 +66 3. AEK 2 2 0 2 296 377 -81

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Fides Napoli	152–161	Simmenthal Milano	69–85	83–76
Juventud Schweppes	153–160	Crvena zvezda	83–70	70–90

Final

March 21, Alexandreio Melathron, Thessaloniki

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Simmenthal Milano	74–70	Crvena zvezda

1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Champions
Simmenthal Milano 2nd title

References

External links

• FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup 1971–72 linguasport.com