The 1971–72 FIBA European Champions Cup was the 15th installment of the European top-tier level professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

club competition FIBA European Champions Cup (now called

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

). The

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

was held at the

Yad Eliyahu Arena Yad Eliyahu Arena, , known as the Menora Mivtachim Arena () and formerly as the Nokia Arena () for commercial reasons, is a large multi-purpose sports indoor arena that is located in southeast Tel Aviv, Israel. The arena is primarily used to host ...

, in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, on March 23, 1972. It was won by

Ignis Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian first division LBA. For past club spo ...

, who defeated

Jugoplastika Košarkaški klub Split (), commonly referred to as KK Split or simply Split, is a men's professional basketball club based in Split, Croatia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Croatian League. Under its former name of KK Jugoplastika ...

, by a result of 70–69.

Competition system

* 23 teams (European national domestic league champions, plus the then current title holders), playing in a tournament system, played knock-out rounds on a home and away basis. The aggregate score of both games decided the winner. * The 8 teams qualified for the Quarterfinals were divided into two groups of four. Every team played against the other three in its group in consecutive home-and-away matches, so that every two of these games counted as a single win or defeat (point difference being a decisive factor there). In case of a tie between two or more teams after this group stage, the following criteria were used: 1) one-to-one games between the teams; 2) basket average; 3) individual wins and defeats. * The group winners and the runners-up of the Quarterfinal Group Stage qualified for the Semifinals. The final was played at a predetermined venue.

First round

* Jeunesse Sportivo Alep withdrew before the first leg and 17 Nëntori received a forfeit (2–0) in both games.

Second round

Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

qualified for the next stage of the competition as the winner of this match-up, but the Bulgarian club later withdrew alleging that most of their international players has been summoned to play a series of Communist Bloc tournaments (the real reason was to prepare the Pre-Olympic Tournament though). Later,

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

fined Akademik for this intentional withdrawal and invited Levi's Flamingo's to take their place in the Quarter finals group stage. ;Automatically qualified to the group stage: *

(title holder)

Quarterfinals group stage

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

Semifinals

Final

March 23, Sports Palace at Yad Eliyahu,

Ignis: Edoardo Rusconi, Ottorino Flaborea (13 pts), Graziano Malachin, Walter Vigna, Marino Zanatta (4), Paolo Vittori, Aldo Ossola (4), Dino Meneghin (21), Tony Gennari (8), Ivan Bisson, Manuel Raga (20).
Jugoplastika: Peterka, Grašo, Manović (5 pts), Grgin, D.Tvrdić, Macura, R.Tvrdić (8), L.Tvrdić (2), Šolman (20), Krstulović, Prug (8), Skansi (26).

Awards

FIBA European Champions Cup Finals Top Scorer

Petar Skansi Petar Skansi (23 November 1943 – 4 April 2022) was a Croatian professional basketball player and coach. During his playing career, he played for Jugoplastika and Maxmobili Pesaro. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He wa ...

(

)

References

External links

1971–72 FIBA European Champions Cup
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{{DEFAULTSORT:1971-72 Fiba European Champions Cup EuroLeague seasons