The 2015 Italian Basketball Cup, known as the Beko Final Eight for sponsorship reasons, was the 47th edition of the

Italian Basketball Cup The Italian Basketball Cup (Italian: Coppa Italiana di Pallacanestro), or Coppa Italia, is an annual professional basketball competition between pro clubs from the Italian Basketball League (LBA). It is Italy's first-tier cup competition, and is ...

, the cup competition organised by Lega Basket for

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

club. The tournament was held from 20 to 22 February at the

PalaDesio The PalaDesio (full name: Palazzetto dello Sport di Desio, known for sponsorship reasons as PalaFitlineDesio) is an arena located in Desio, Lombardy, Italy. Opened in 1992, the arena – with a capacity of 6,700 or 8,000 depending on the layout � ...

Desio Desio ( lmo, label= Brianzoeu, Des) is a town and in the Province of Monza and Brianza, Italy. History In 1277 it was the location of the battle between the Visconti and della Torre families for the rule of Milan. On 24 February 1924, Desio rece ...

. Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari won its second successive title by beating

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

101–94 in the final. David Logan was named the Cup final MVP.

Participants

Eight teams qualified for the final eight as the best ranked teams at the end of the first stage of the

2014-15 Serie A The 2014–15 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier Italian football, the 83rd in a round-robin tournament, and the fifth since its organization under a league committee separate from Seri ...

. #

# Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari #

Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia Pallacanestro Reggiana, also known for sponsorship reasons as UnaHotels Reggio Emilia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna. It plays in the LBA as of the 2022-23 season. History 1970s Pallacanestro ...

Umana Reyer Venezia S.S.P. Reyer Venezia Mestre, commonly known as Reyer Venezia or simply Reyer, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Venice, Veneto. The club currently plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the highest tier of basketball in ...

Enel Brindisi New Basket Brindisi, for sponsorship reasons named Happy Casa Brindisi or shortly Brindisi, is a professional Italian basketball based in Brindisi, Apulia. It plays in the first division LBA in the 2022–23 season. Founded in 2004, the well-s ...

Dolomiti Energia Trento Aquila Basket Trento, also known for sponsorship reasons as Dolomiti Energia Trento, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trent, Trentino. It was founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of two local clubs, going from the amateur divisio ...

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the society had the name of ...

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

Road to the final

In the quarterfinals, Milano earned a close 68-60 win over Avellino on the back of

Samardo Samuels Samardo Samuels (born January 9, 1989) is a Jamaican professional basketball player for Bashkimi Prizren of the Kosovo Basketball Superleague. He is a tall power forward–center who attended college at the University of Louisville. High school ...

' 19 points and 12 rebounds, Reggio Emilia edged Dolomiti Energia Trento 80-77 with 16 points and 9 assists from

Andrea Cinciarini Andrea Cinciarini (born 21 June 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player for Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Professional career In 2012 he signed with Pallacanestro Reggiana. On 27 April 2014 Cinciarin ...

, Brindisi downed Venezia 80-70 thanks to 27 points (on 6-of-8 three point shooting) from

Jacob Pullen Jacob Everse Pullen (born November 10, 1989) is an American-Georgian professional basketball player for Kuwait SC of the Kuwaiti Division I Basketball League. He played for the Kansas State Wildcats. Pullen has both American and Georgian citizens ...

whilst holders Sassari bested Cremona 74-63 with contributions from Édgar Sosa (14 points and 4 assists) and Jeff Brooks (11 points and 7 rebounds). The semifinals saw Milano undo Brindisi 76-65, having led the first quarter 24-4 before a Brindisi upsurge in the next quarter conceded the lead, Milano retook it before half-time and resisted Brindisi's forays until the end,

Marshon Brooks MarShon Scitif Brooks (born January 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Standing at , he plays at shooting guard and small forward positions. Origi ...

' 14 points made him one of five Milan players with 10 points or more. In the other contest, Sassari progressed past Reggio Emilia thanks to a third quarter run that took the game from a tie to a 57-46 Sassari lead, with Reggio Emilia not finding a way back into the game despite

Rimantas Kaukėnas Rimantas "Rimas" Kaukėnas (born 11 April 1977) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player. His long career has taken him to a number of countries, finding the most success in Italy. He has also been a member of the senior men's Lithu ...

' 21 points, the winners had a number of players in double figure scoring including David Logan and

Jerome Dyson Jerome Clifton Dyson (born May 1, 1987) is an American professional basketball player, who lastly played for Spójnia Stargard. He played college basketball with the Connecticut Huskies before playing professionally in the NBA with the New Orleans ...

(16 and 15 points respectively).

Bracket

Final

Milano were seen as the favourites going into the final against defending champions Sassari, however it was the Sardinians that raced into a 33-15 lead after only eight minutes, league-leaders Milano fought back to reduce the lead to 49-47 before half-time but an excellent start to the third quarter enabled Sassari to accrue a determinant lead and repeat their 2014 Cup win. Game MVP Logan had 25 points as Dyson paced the winners with 27 points,

Joe Ragland Joseph Alexander Ragland (born November 11, 1989) is an American-Liberian professional basketball player for Hapoel Holon of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for North Platte Community College and Wichita Stat ...

and Brooks contributed 21 and 18 points respectively to Milano's losing effort.

References

{{reflist 2015

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...