2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four
The 2018 Basketball Champions League (BCL) Final Four was the second concluding Basketball Champions League Final Four tournament. It was the concluding phase of the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League season, which marked the second season of Basketball Champions League (BCL). The Final Four took place on 4–6 May 2018.[1] The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, home arena of hosts AEK Athens, hosted the tournament. AEK won the league title after defeating Monaco in the final.
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| Season | 2017–18 season |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Arena | O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Marousi, Athens, Greece |
| Dates | 4–6 May 2018 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  1st title |
| Runners-up |  |
| Third place |  |
| Fourth place |  |
| Awards and statistics | |
| MVP |  |
| Top scorer(s) | |
Venue
On 5 April 2018, the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece was announced as the venue of the 2018 Final Four.[2] AEK Athens, which qualified for the Final Four on 4 April, would serve as host. The arena was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.
| Athens | 2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four (Europe) |
|---|---|
| O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall | |
| Capacity: 18,989 | |
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Draw
The draw for the pairings for the Final Four was held on 12 April 2018.
Teams
Road to the Final Four
| Club | Clinched Final Four |
Season performance | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season record |
Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | |||||||||
| 3 April 2018[3] | 13–1 (1st Group A) |  | 82–84 (A) | 90–60 (H) |  | 77–85 (A) | 74–75 (H) | |||
| 4 April 2018[4] | 12–2 (2nd Group B) | | 63–88 (A) | 74–86 (H) | | 81–86 (H) | 77–89 (A) | |||
| 4 April 2018[5] | 8–6 (3rd Group C) |  | 88–98 (H) | 82–93 (A) | | 78–69 (H) | 83–83 (A) | |||
| 4 April 2018[6] | 7–7 (4th Group A) | | 66–71 (H) | 72–83 (A) | | 65–79 (A) | 81–72 (H) | |||
Background
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MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg qualified for its first ever final phase of a European competition, as in the 2016–17 season they were eliminated by Banvit on a buzzer-beater. In the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), Riesen was having a solid year as it was battling for playoff position. In the BCL play-offs, Riesen eliminated two German sides, EWE Baskets Oldenburg and medi Bayreuth in order to advance to the final four.
Monaco
Monaco was at the top of the standings in its domestic Pro A season. In February, Monaco won the Leaders Cup for its third consecutive time. In the previous season, the team also qualified for the Final Four but was eliminated in the semi-finals, by runners-up Banvit.
AEK Athens
AEK was having a successful season as well, as the team captured its fourth Greek Cup title, while beating EuroLeague teams Olympiacos and Panathinaikos on the way. AEK had a remarkable path to the final four, as it was nearly eliminated in the round of 16 but was saved by a three-pointer by Kevin Punter to defeat Czech side ČEZ Nymburk. In the quarter-finals, AEK eliminated French side SIG Strasbourg.
Guard Manny Harris was named the Basketball Champions League MVP as well.[7]
UCAM Murcia
In its first BCL season, and just its second year ever playing in European competitions, Murcia eliminated the defending champions Iberostar Tenerife in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, Pınar Karşıyaka was defeated. In the 2017–18 ACB season, Murcia was close to qualifying to the playoffs.
Bracket
| Final | ||||||
| 4 May | ||||||
| 65 | |||||
| 6 May | ||||||
| 87 | |||||
| 94 | |||||
| 4 May | ||||||
| 100 | |||||
| 77 | |||||
| 75 | |||||
| Third place game | ||||||
| 6 May | ||||||
| 74 | |||||
| 85 | |||||
Semifinals
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg vs Monaco
| 4 May 2018 | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg |
65–87 | |
Athens, Greece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:30 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 20–11, 18–25, 16–25, 9–26 | |||
| Pts: Johnson 12 Rebs: Evans 7 Asts: Johnson, Walkup 2 Eff: Walkup 14 |
Boxscore | Pts: Kikanović 19 Rebs: Evans 8 Asts: Cooper 9 Eff: Evans 24 |
Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 5,862 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Tomas Jasevičius (LTU), Manuel Mazzoni (ITA) |
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AEK Athens vs UCAM Murcia
| 4 May 2018 | AEK Athens |
77–75 | |
Athens, Greece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:30 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 18–17, 22–17, 15–20, 22–21 | |||
| Pts: Harris 20 Rebs: Hunter 6 Asts: Xanthopoulos 7 Eff: Harris 20 |
Boxscore | Pts: Benite 19 Rebs: Rojas 12 Asts: Hannah 6 Eff: Rojas 19 |
Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 16,191 Referees: Srđan Dožai (CRO), Tolga Sahin (ITA), Marius Ciulin (ROU) |
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Third place game
| 6 May 2018 | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg |
74–85 | |
Athens, Greece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 15–24, 21–18, 21–25 | |||
| Pts: Johnson 17 Rebs: Evans 5 Asts: Johnson 9 PIR: Eff: Johnson 27 |
Boxscore | Pts: Rojas 18 Rebs: Soko 10 Asts: Urtasun 4 PIR: Eff: Rojas 21 |
Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 8,221 Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Petar Obradović (BIH), Marius Ciulin (ROU) |
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Final
| 6 May 2018 | Monaco |
94–100 | |
Athens, Greece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:30 (UTC+3) | Scoring by quarter: 20–29, 24–24, 26–20, 24–27 | |||
| Pts: Gladyr 18 Rebs: Kikanović, Lacombe 6 Asts: Cooper 9 PIR: Eff: Gladyr 22 |
Boxscore | Pts: Green 19 Rebs: Harris 10 Asts: Xanthopoulos 6 PIR: Eff: James 18 |
Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 17,984 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Tomas Jasevičius (LTU), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT) |
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References
- "Competition system". Championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- "Athens to host Basketball Champions League Final Four". Championsleague.basketball. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- "Banvit win second leg but Robinson fires Monaco into Final Four". Chamionsleague.basketball. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- "Sears leads MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to Final Four with Leg 2 win in Bayreuth". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- "AEK Athens advance to Final Four as they hold off SIG Strasbourg". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- "Murcia lower the boom in fourth quarter to beat Pinar Karsiyaka and advance". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
- Harris named MVP of the season
- Boxscore Riesen – Monaco
External links
- Basketball Champions League (official website)