2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four

The 2018 Basketball Champions League (BCL) Final Four was the second concluding Basketball Champions League Final Four tournament. It was the concluding phase of the 2017–18 Basketball Champions League season, which marked the second season of Basketball Champions League (BCL). The Final Four took place on 4–6 May 2018.[1] The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, home arena of hosts AEK Athens, hosted the tournament. AEK won the league title after defeating Monaco in the final.

2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four

Season	2017–18 season
Tournament details
Arena	O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Marousi, Athens, Greece
Dates	4–6 May 2018
Final positions
Champions	AEK Athens 1st title
Runners-up	Monaco
Third place	UCAM Murcia
Fourth place	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg
Awards and statistics
MVP	Mike Green
Top scorer(s)	Kevin Punter (32)

Venue

On 5 April 2018, the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece was announced as the venue of the 2018 Final Four.[2] AEK Athens, which qualified for the Final Four on 4 April, would serve as host. The arena was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.

Athens	Athens 2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four (Europe)
O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall
Capacity: 18,989

Draw

The draw for the pairings for the Final Four was held on 12 April 2018.

Teams

Road to the Final Four

Main article: 2017–18 Basketball Champions League

Club	Clinched Final Four		Season performance
			Regular season record	Round of 16				Quarterfinals
Monaco	3 April 2018[3]		13–1 (1st Group A)	Zielona Góra	174–142	82–84 (A)	90–60 (H)	Banvit	159–152	77–85 (A)	74–75 (H)
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	4 April 2018[4]		12–2 (2nd Group B)	Oldenburg	162–149	63–88 (A)	74–86 (H)	medi Bayreuth	170–163	81–86 (H)	77–89 (A)
AEK Athens	4 April 2018[5]		8–6 (3rd Group C)	ČEZ Nymburk	181–180	88–98 (H)	82–93 (A)	SIG Strasbourg	156–151	78–69 (H)	83–83 (A)
UCAM Murcia	4 April 2018[6]		7–7 (4th Group A)	Iberostar Tenerife	149–143	66–71 (H)	72–83 (A)	Pınar Karşıyaka	160–137	65–79 (A)	81–72 (H)

Background

AEK's Mike Green won the Final Four MVP award

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg

Ludwigsburg qualified for its first ever final phase of a European competition, as in the 2016–17 season they were eliminated by Banvit on a buzzer-beater. In the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), Riesen was having a solid year as it was battling for playoff position. In the BCL play-offs, Riesen eliminated two German sides, EWE Baskets Oldenburg and medi Bayreuth in order to advance to the final four.

Monaco

Monaco was at the top of the standings in its domestic Pro A season. In February, Monaco won the Leaders Cup for its third consecutive time. In the previous season, the team also qualified for the Final Four but was eliminated in the semi-finals, by runners-up Banvit.

AEK Athens

AEK was having a successful season as well, as the team captured its fourth Greek Cup title, while beating EuroLeague teams Olympiacos and Panathinaikos on the way. AEK had a remarkable path to the final four, as it was nearly eliminated in the round of 16 but was saved by a three-pointer by Kevin Punter to defeat Czech side ČEZ Nymburk. In the quarter-finals, AEK eliminated French side SIG Strasbourg.

Guard Manny Harris was named the Basketball Champions League MVP as well.[7]

UCAM Murcia

In its first BCL season, and just its second year ever playing in European competitions, Murcia eliminated the defending champions Iberostar Tenerife in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, Pınar Karşıyaka was defeated. In the 2017–18 ACB season, Murcia was close to qualifying to the playoffs.

Bracket

	Semifinals				Final
	4 May
	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	65
					6 May
	Monaco	87
					Monaco	94
	4 May
					AEK Athens	100
	AEK Athens	77
	UCAM Murcia	75
					Third place game
					6 May
					MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	74
					UCAM Murcia	85

Semifinals

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg vs Monaco

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg v Monaco

4 May 2018	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	65–87	Monaco	Athens, Greece
17:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 20–11, 18–25, 16–25, 9–26
	Pts: Johnson 12 Rebs: Evans 7 Asts: Johnson, Walkup 2 Eff: Walkup 14	Boxscore	Pts: Kikanović 19 Rebs: Evans 8 Asts: Cooper 9 Eff: Evans 24	Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 5,862 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Tomas Jasevičius (LTU), Manuel Mazzoni (ITA)

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 3 Kerron Johnson 12 2 2 SG 4 David McCray 0 2 1 SF 0 Thomas Walkup 10 5 2 PF 23 Elgin Cook 10 4 1 C 19 Adam Waleskowski 6 3 1 Reserves: PF 1 Dwyane Evans 9 7 1 PG 7 Niklas Geske 0 0 1 SG 10 Adika Peter-McNeilly 11 0 0 SG 11 Malik Müller 0 2 0 SF 12 Florian Koch 0 0 0 PF 17 Mateo Seric 2 1 0 PF 42 Jacob Wiley 5 3 0 Head coach: John Patrick

Riesen Monaco 0 Riesen Statistics[8] Monaco 19/38 (50%) 2-pt field goals 23/34 (67.7%) 4/17 (23.5%) 3-pt field goals 9/28 (32.1%) 15/23 (65.2%) Free throws 14/23 (60.9%) 13 Offensive rebounds 13 21 Defensive rebounds 22 34 Total rebounds 35 9 Assists 27 16 Turnovers 9 7 Steals 11 1 Blocks 2 16 Fouls 21

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 D. J. Cooper 2 1 9 SG 22 Gerald Robinson 16 3 1 SF 8 Sergiy Gladyr 12 0 0 PF 5 Amara Sy 10 2 4 C 9 Elmedin Kikanović 19 7 1 Reserves: PG 4 Aaron Craft 7 3 3 SF 6 Paul Lacombe 2 4 5 PF 7 Damjan Rudež 0 1 0 SF 10 Romain Poinas 0 0 0 PF 14 Georgi Joseph 2 3 1 PF 23 Christopher Evans 17 8 3 C 24 Ali Traoré 0 0 0 Head coach: Zvezdan Mitrović

AEK Athens vs UCAM Murcia

AEK Athens v UCAM Murcia

4 May 2018	AEK Athens	77–75	UCAM Murcia	Athens, Greece
20:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 18–17, 22–17, 15–20, 22–21
	Pts: Harris 20 Rebs: Hunter 6 Asts: Xanthopoulos 7 Eff: Harris 20	Boxscore	Pts: Benite 19 Rebs: Rojas 12 Asts: Hannah 6 Eff: Rojas 19	Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 16,191 Referees: Srđan Dožai (CRO), Tolga Sahin (ITA), Marius Ciulin (ROU)

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 Mike Green 7 3 3 SG 12 Giannoulis Larentzakis 3 1 1 SF 3 Manny Harris 20 2 1 PF 1 Delroy James 6 0 1 C 32 Vince Hunter 0 6 0 Reserves: SG 0 Kevin Punter 16 3 0 PG 4 Vassilis Xanthopoulos 0 2 7 PF 5 Dušan Šakota 15 4 2 SF 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos 1 3 0 SF 9 Edin Atić DNP C 22 Dimitrios Mavroeidis 9 5 0 C 24 Vassilis Kavvadas 0 0 0 Head coach: Dragan Šakota

AEK Murcia 0 AEK Statistics Murcia 17/31 (54.8%) 2-pt field goals 19/43 (44.1%) 8/22 (36.4%) 3-pt field goals 6/20 (30%) 19/31 (61.3%) Free throws 19/25 (76%) 6 Offensive rebounds 15 26 Defensive rebounds 29 32 Total rebounds 44 15 Assists 14 14 Turnovers 15 9 Steals 10 6 Blocks 3 25 Fouls 28

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 11 Clevin Hannah 17 4 6 SG 12 Brad Oleson 10 0 2 SF 27 Sadiel Rojas 8 12 3 PF 0 Ovie Soko 12 8 2 C 24 Kevin Tumba 5 6 0 Reserves: SF 1 Lazar Mutić DNP SG 3 Álex Urtasun 0 0 0 PF 6 José Ángel Antelo 0 2 0 SG 8 Vítor Benite 19 1 1 PG 9 Charlon Kloof 0 0 0 PF 13 Vítor Faverani DNP C 23 Augusto Lima 4 6 0 Head coach: Ibon Navarro

Third place game

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg v UCAM Murcia

6 May 2018	MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg	74–85	UCAM Murcia	Athens, Greece
16:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 17–18, 15–24, 21–18, 21–25
	Pts: Johnson 17 Rebs: Evans 5 Asts: Johnson 9 PIR: Eff: Johnson 27	Boxscore	Pts: Rojas 18 Rebs: Soko 10 Asts: Urtasun 4 PIR: Eff: Rojas 21	Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 8,221 Referees: Manuel Mazzoni (ITA), Petar Obradović (BIH), Marius Ciulin (ROU)

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 3 Kerron Johnson 17 3 9 SG 4 David McCray 2 0 0 SF 0 Thomas Walkup 7 4 2 PF 23 Elgin Cook 11 0 2 C 19 Adam Waleskowski 10 4 3 Reserves: PF 1 Dwyane Evans 6 5 1 PG 7 Niklas Geske 0 0 1 SG 10 Adika Peter-McNeilly 11 4 2 SG 11 Malik Müller 6 3 0 SF 12 Florian Koch 4 1 0 PF 17 Mateo Seric DNP PF 42 Jacob Wiley 0 0 1 Head coach: John Patrick

Riesen Murcia 0 Riesen Statistics Murcia 20/39 (51.3%) 2-pt field goals 18/37 (48.6%) 7/22 (31.8%) 3-pt field goals 9/24 (37.5%) 13/18 (72.2%) Free throws 22.31 (71%) 7 Offensive rebounds 17 21 Defensive rebounds 29 28 Total rebounds 46 20 Assists 23 12 Turnovers 17 11 Steals 8 3 Blocks 4 26 Fouls 20

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 11 Clevin Hannah 10 2 8 SG 12 Brad Oleson 3 1 3 SF 27 Sadiel Rojas 18 9 1 PF 0 Ovie Soko 15 10 0 C 23 Augusto Lima 8 3 1 Reserves: SF 1 Lazar Mutić DNP SG 3 Álex Urtasun 6 3 4 PF 6 José Ángel Antelo DNP SG 8 Vítor Benite 8 1 2 PG 9 Charlon Kloof 12 3 4 PF 13 Vítor Faverani DNP C 24 Kevin Tumba 5 8 0 Head coach: Ibon Navarro

Final

Monaco v AEK Athens

6 May 2018	Monaco	94–100	AEK Athens	Athens, Greece
19:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 20–29, 24–24, 26–20, 24–27
	Pts: Gladyr 18 Rebs: Kikanović, Lacombe 6 Asts: Cooper 9 PIR: Eff: Gladyr 22	Boxscore	Pts: Green 19 Rebs: Harris 10 Asts: Xanthopoulos 6 PIR: Eff: James 18	Arena: O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Attendance: 17,984 Referees: Aleksandar Glišić (SRB), Tomas Jasevičius (LTU), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT)

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 D. J. Cooper 8 1 9 SG 22 Gerald Robinson 13 2 3 SF 6 Paul Lacombe 2 4 5 PF 5 Amara Sy 8 2 0 C 9 Elmedin Kikanović 12 6 0 Reserves: PG 4 Aaron Craft 9 5 4 PF 7 Damjan Rudež 0 0 0 SF 8 Sergiy Gladyr 18 5 0 SF 10 Romain Poinas DNP PF 14 Georgi Joseph 0 0 0 PF 23 Christopher Evans 6 4 1 C 24 Ali Traoré 8 2 2 Head coach: Zvezdan Mitrović

Monaco AEK 0 Monaco Statistics AEK 24/45 (53.3%) 2-pt field goals 23/45 (51.1%) 7/19 (36.8%) 3-pt field goals 9/17 (52.9%) 25/35 (71.4%) Free throws 27/40 (67.5%) 13 Offensive rebounds 11 25 Defensive rebounds 23 38 Total rebounds 34 21 Assists 18 13 Turnovers 12 6 Steals 9 7 Blocks 6 30 Fouls 26 2017–18 Basketball Champions League champions AEK Athens 1st title

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 2 Mike Green 19 5 3 SG 12 Giannoulis Larentzakis 8 0 2 SF 3 Manny Harris 9 10 4 PF 1 Delroy James 13 4 1 C 32 Vince Hunter 10 4 0 Reserves: SG 0 Kevin Punter 16 0 0 PG 4 Vassilis Xanthopoulos 2 2 6 PF 5 Dušan Šakota 16 2 1 SF 8 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos 0 2 1 SF 9 Edin Atić DNP C 22 Dimitrios Mavroeidis 7 2 0 C 24 Vassilis Kavvadas DNP Head coach: Dragan Šakota

References

1. "Competition system". Championsleague.basketball. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
2. "Athens to host Basketball Champions League Final Four". Championsleague.basketball. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
3. "Banvit win second leg but Robinson fires Monaco into Final Four". Chamionsleague.basketball. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
4. "Sears leads MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to Final Four with Leg 2 win in Bayreuth". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
5. "AEK Athens advance to Final Four as they hold off SIG Strasbourg". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
6. "Murcia lower the boom in fourth quarter to beat Pinar Karsiyaka and advance". Chamionsleague.basketball. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
7. Harris named MVP of the season
8. Boxscore Riesen – Monaco

External links

• Basketball Champions League (official website)