Kapfenberg Bulls claims first title in 12 years

Kapfenberg Bulls are the champions of the Bundesliga Austrian Basketball League (ABL) after a 64-73 win over Oberwart in Game 5 of the finals series. The road success handed Kapfenberg its fifth title since the turn of the century, but its first in 12 years. Victory also stopped Oberwart from repeating as champions.

The win gave the Bulls a 4-1 series win. After dropping the first game of the finals, the team has been on a four-game winning streak. However, this was a tight series with Game 3 and Game 4 decided by a single point.

Not that the Bulls will care. These fine margins count and it is the Kapfenberg faithful celebrating the title this morning. The first quarter went a long way towards deciding the game as the Bulls raced to a 9-21 lead at the first split. The defending champs improved in the second period with a 14-11 run that made it 23-32 through halftime.

In the second half, the teams could not be split. A 14-14 third act made it 37-46 through thirty minutes. Both set of players went for buckets in the fourth, playing out an entertaining 24-24 end to the season.

Kareem Jamar drained 17 points in the win, while Carl Baptiste added 16 points and 5 rebounds. Bogic Vojosevic had an excellent game worth 13 points, 8 boards, and 7 assists.

Chris McNealy scored 15 points in the losing effort, followed by Andell Cumberbatch with 12 points and Jamari Traylor with 11 points and 8 rebounds.