The 2018 Basketball Champions League (BCL) Final Four was the second

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercont ...

tournament. It was the concluding phase of the

2017–18 Basketball Champions League The 2017–18 Basketball Champions League was the second season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), a European-wide professional basketball competition for clubs, that was launched by FIBA. The competition began on 19 September 2017, with th ...

season.

Venue

The

O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named ''Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall'' since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) « Spyros Louis» ( el, O.A.K.A. «Σπύρος Λούης»), was completed ...

hosted the final tournament for the first time.

Teams

Road to the Final Four

Background

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 Banvit is a feed and poultry producer based in Bandırma, Turkey. Business and activities Starting as a feed producer in 1968, Banvit gradually moved into the production of broiler chickens. Today Banvit has the country's largest single broiler ...

on a

buzzer-beater In basketball and other such timed sports, a buzzer beater is a shot that is taken before the game clock of a quarter, a half (if the half is the second one, then, a game), or an overtime period expires but does not go in the basket until after t ...

. 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 Baskets Oldenburg, for sponsorship reasons EWE Baskets Oldenburg, is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Oldenburg, Germany. The club plays in the Bundesliga. The club's name is derived from the team's main sponsor EWE AG ...

and

medi Bayreuth Medi Bayreuth, official stylized as medi bayreuth, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bayreuth, Germany. It was re-founded as BBC Bayreuth in 1999. The team plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest division o ...

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 The LNB Pro A Leaders Cup, or French Basketball League Cup, is the annual national league cup competition for teams from the top-tier level of French professional basketball, the LNB Pro A. It was created in its current form in 2003 (after origin ...

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 The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

title, while beating EuroLeague teams

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

and

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

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 Kevin Xavier Punter Jr. ( sr-cyrl, Кевин Ксавијер Пантер Џуниор; born June 25, 1993) is an American-born naturalized Serbian professional basketball player for Partizan Belgrade of the Serbian KLS, the Adriatic League an ...

to defeat Czech side

ČEZ Nymburk Basketball Nymburk, also known as ERA Nymburk due to sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in the town of Nymburk. The club plays in the top-tier level professional Czech National League (NBL). Nymburk regularly pl ...

. In the quarter-finals, AEK eliminated French side

SIG Strasbourg Strasbourg Illkirch-Graffenstaden Basket, most commonly known as SIG Basket or SIG Strasbourg, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Strasbourg. The club, founded in 1929, competes domestically in the French Pro A League, and ...

. Guard

Manny Harris Corperryale L'Adorable "Manny" Harris (born September 21, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He has previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Clevel ...

was named the

Basketball Champions League MVP The Basketball Champions League MVP, or Basketball Champions League MVP of the Season, is the annual award bestowed to the player that is deemed to be the " Most Valuable Player" during the full season of the Basketball Champions League (BCL). Th ...

as well.Harris named MVP of the season
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UCAM Murcia

In its first BCL season, and just its second year ever playing in European competitions, Murcia eliminated the defending champions

Iberostar Tenerife Club Cantera Base 1939 Canarias S.A.D., also known as Lenovo Tenerife for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. Domestically, the team plays in the top level league i ...

in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals,

Pınar Karşıyaka Pınar is a common feminine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Pınar" means "Spring" (of water), and/or "Fountain". Notable people called Pınar include: Given name * Pinar Heggernes (born 1969), Turkish-born Norwegian computer scientist * Pına ...

was defeated. In the

2017–18 ACB season The 2017–18 ACB season, also known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, was the 35th season of the Spanish basketball league. It started on 29 September 2017 with the first round of the regular season and ended on 19 June 2018 with the final ...

, Murcia was close to qualifying to the playoffs.

Bracket

Semifinals

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg vs Monaco

AEK Athens vs UCAM Murcia

Third place game

Final

References

External links

Basketball Champions League
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four Final Four

International sports competitions hosted by Greece Sports competitions in Athens