Burgos back in the finals of the FIBA Champions League

For the first time in the history of the FIBA Basketball Champions League, the title holders made it back to the title game. Spanish team Hereda San Pablo Burgos outlasted SIG Strasbourg 81-70, erasing an early 12-point deficit to end the French squad’s Cinderella run in the Semi-Finals.

Burgos move on to play against Pinar Karsiyaka in the Final.

The turning point in tonight’s game was probably the missed three-pointer by Brandon Jefferson at the fourth-quarter buzzer. Strasbourg did advance to the Semis, but their overtime work against Lenovo Tenerife on Thursday was clearly felt in the second half of the game on Friday, just 24 hours later.

Despite their amazing start to the game, which saw them build up a 25-13 lead, Strasbourg could not match Burgos’ energy in the third and fourth quarter. Thad McFadden’s three-pointer to end the third was much more than just a shot that said 63-57 on the scoreboard – all the momentum went champs’ way, 11-2 run to open Q4 was all it took to take the air out of the building in front of 1093 fans in the stands.

Burgos is a win away from making history in the BCL.