2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four

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)
	← 2017 2019 →

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.

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[]

Club	Clinched Final Four	Season performance
Club	Clinched Final Four	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 v t		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[]

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		6	3	1
Reserves:
PF	1		9	7	1
PG	7		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		2	1	0
PF	42	Jacob Wiley	5	3	0
Head coach:
John Patrick

Riesen

Monaco

0

Riesen	Statistics^[8]	Monaco
	Statistics^[8]
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		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[]

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
	Statistics
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		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[]

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		10	4	3
Reserves:
PF	1		6	5	1
PG	7		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		DNP
PF	42	Jacob Wiley	0	0	1
Head coach:
John Patrick

Riesen

Murcia

0

Riesen	Statistics	Murcia
	Statistics
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		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[]

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		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
	Statistics
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[]

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

External links[]

Basketball Champions League (official website)

[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

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Head coach: Šakota Assistant coaches: Falekas Mamalis Magiras