Oradea Celebrates Romanian League Title

 CSM CSU Oradea captured their second Romanian League title on Tuesday after beating Steaua CSM Eximbank Bucuresti 92-89 in Game 4 of the finals. The impressive road win sealed the series 3-1. The last time Oradea won the championship was in 2016. Oradea finished third in the Liga Nationala 12-team league at the end of the regular season with a 23-10 record.

Kris Richard exploded for 26  points and could not be contained by Steaua’s defense. They ended up sending him to the line but Richard punished them by connecting on 14 of his 17 free-throw attempts. In a relatively close game such as this, the points scored at the line end up being the difference maker in most cases, as in this one. He also accounted for two of the team’s eight steals in this game. Oradea’s defense forced 14 turnovers from Steaua CSM and controlled the game in the second quarter as well as the high-scoring final period.

Steaua CSM’s Brandon Taylor recorded 22 points of his own. Pavel Marinov added 14 points in the losing effort.

Oradea have much to celebrate as they return to the top of the podium in 2017-18. Next season will be another story, another chapter in the Liga Nationala, which team will hoist that gold trophy above their heads?