European Basketball cup round up
This weekend in European Basketball has been dedicated to cup competitions with major cup tournaments held all around the continent. In some of the biggest countries in the European Basketball community, there have been plenty of thrills and quite a few spills over the weekend. Check out below the clubs that are celebrating being domestic club winners in 2018.
Barcelona (Copa del Rey)
Highlighting the nature of knockout basketball, Barcelona came from nowhere to win Spain’s Cop del Rey. Of course, the Catalan giant is a serial winner and always capable of claiming a trophy, but over the last two seasons the club has struggled. Barca put poor form to one side to defeat arch rival Real Madrid 90-92 in the final. Madrid was the favourite and defending champions, but in an El Clasico to remember Barcelona conquered the title on the back of Thomas Huertal’s MVP performance.
Anadolu Efes (Turkish Cup)
Elsewhere in European Basketball, Anadolu Efes Istanbul followed a similar trend as Barcelona. The club has been in the shadow of city rival Fenerbahce Istanbul recently, even watching Fener become the first Turkish EuroLeague champ. Efes avoided Fenerbahce in the final and instead eased past Tofas Bursa with a 78-61 win to claim its 11th Turkish Cup title.
Italy (Copa Italia)
Fiat Turin made history in Italy on Sunday with a 69-67 win over Brescia to claim its first ever major trophy and its first Italian cup. The eventual winners trailed 28-31 through halftime and in a low scoring affair had to hustle to wrestle back the momentum. With seconds to go, Vujacic Aleksander drained the game-winning points to kick off the celebrations.
Monaco (French Cup)
Monaco continued its recent dominance over the French Cup with an 83-78 win over Le Mans. The victory means the club enjoys its third consecutive French Cup win and took it from a pretty dominant display. Monaco rarely looked in danger and was 63-55 up through thirty minutes. Le Mans never fell out of touch, but also never really looked like getting back into the game.
Bayern Munich (German Cup)
Bayern Munich passed rival ALBA Berlin 80-75 in an exciting German Cup on Sunday. The Bavarian giant was down by five points after half hour on the floor, but found a rally in the fourth. A 26-16 run in the deciding act was enough for Bayern Munich to take back the lead and move four points clear at regulation time.
Partizan Belgrade (Radivoj Korac Cup)
In a typically pulsating Belgrade giant, arch rivals Partizan and Crvena Zvezda clashed for the Serbian Cup. Despite Crvena Zvezda dominating Serbian hoops in recent years, Partizan delivered an 81-75 win to claim another cup title. Indeed, the team dominated large periods and led by as much as 18 points in the second quarter. Crvena Zvezda rallied late on, but it was too little too late.
Zalgiris Kaunas (Karaliaus Mindaugas Cup)
Lithuanian giants Zalgiris continued to control basketball in the country with a slick 81-62 win over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius in the cup final. The EuroLeague heavyweight demolished their opponent and highlighted the gulf in class. It was tight through halftime at 35-33, but Zalgiris turned it on in the third act and then extended through the fourth to victory.