Fraport Skyliners win FIBA Europe Cup

The FIBA Europe Cup’s maiden season is over and it is the Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt (Germany-BBL) that raise the gold above their heads. The German club defeated a tough Finals opponent in Openjobmetis Varese (Italy-Serie A), 62-66. The Finals game was filled with excitement and of course some great basketball. The boys in blue had to dig deep and put up a strong second half to wrench the lead from the Italian club in the dying minutes of the game. Overall, the third tier level basketball competition appears to be a success.

The early part of the game was tough for the Fraport Skyliners. They struggled to find their shot in the beginning and even went 1-of-11 from three-point range in the first half. Meanwhile Varese managed to set up a six-point advantage by halftime, 31-25.

Final Four MVP, Quantez Robertson did his best to keep the Frankfurt franchise in the mix. He was able to finish the game with a team-high 15 points. In the end, it would be Jordan Theodore who would provide the heroics that would drastically shift the momentum in favor of the Skyliners. With just over a minute left in regulation, the American import knocked down a triple to tie up the game at 62-all. Varese’s Rihards Kuksiks was unable to convert on his attempt from deep, and ball possession went back the way of the blue shirts once again. Feeling that he had the hot hand, Theodore made another attempt, but this time he was fouled and was sent to the line for three shots. He made all three shots from the charity stripe to lift Fraport 62-65. Another shot from Kuksiks failed to find its mark from the corner and Varese was forced to foul to stop the clock. Johannes Voigtmann sealed the game for the Fraport Skyliners with a single shot from the free-throw line, 62-66.

The Bronze medal game saw French club ES Chalon-Sur-Saone convincingly prevail over Russian team Enisey Krasnoyarsk, 103-72.