EuroChallenge 2008/09

EuroChallenge 2008/09
Duration		October 14, 2008 - April 26, 2009
Order of execution		6th season
organizer		FIBA
Number of teams		32
Final Four
venue		Bologna
master		Virtus Bologna
Runner-up		Cholet Basket
Finals - MVP		Keith Langford (Virtus)
← FIBA EuroCup 2007/08 EuroChallenge 2009/10 →
↑ Eurocup 2008/09

The season 2008/09 was the sixth season of the FIBA Europe discharged Euro Challenge and the first under that name.

Virtus Bologna from Italy won the title for the first time .

mode

The tournament started with two qualifying rounds. A group phase of eight groups with 4 teams each followed. The group winners and the runners-up continued to play in the top 16 phase with four groups of four teams. The two best in each group qualified for the quarter-finals, which was played in a best-of-three series. The semi-finals, the final and the third place match took place in a Final Four tournament.

qualification

1 round

The first qualifying round games were played on October 14 and 21, 2008.

	total		First leg	Return leg
BK Prostějov	134: 148	KK Zagreb	61: 69	73: 79
KK AMAK	148 : 145	Zlatorog Laško	70: 76	78 : 69
CSU Asesoft Ploieşti	147 : 145	BK Spartak Saint Petersburg	79 : 76	68: 69
U-Mobitelco Cluj	132: 163	EWE Baskets Oldenburg	60: 86	72: 77
Svendborg Rabbits	168: 180	HKK Široki Brijeg	092: 100	76: 80
MBK Mykolaiv	138: 151	Skyliners Frankfurt	68: 75	70: 76
Energy Invest Rustavi	160: 200	BK Sumychimprom	081: 110	79: 90
BK Spartak Pleven	153: 176	Antalya BK	83: 87	70: 89
APOEL Nicosia	113: 135	YES Vichy	52: 66	61: 69
CSU Sibiu	144: 186	Banvit BK	67: 74	77: 112
Cedevita Zagreb	150: 157	SAOS Hyères-Toulon	71:88	58: 75
KC Körmend	171: 201	EiffelTowers Den Bosch	71: 88	100: 113
BK Donetsk	120: 134	Proteas EKA AEL	65:65	55: 79
Bakken Bears	119: 164	Liège Basket	55: 67	64: 97

2nd round

The second qualifying round games were played on November 4 and 11, 2008.

	total		First leg	Return leg
EiffelTowers Den Bosch	166 : 130	KK AMAK	94 : 66	72 : 64
HKK Široki Brijeg	155: 164	BK Sumychimprom	73:73	82: 91
ZSK WWS Samara	149 : 136	KK Zagreb	80 : 60	69: 76
Skyliners Frankfurt	127 : 125	Antalya BK	60:60	67 : 65
SAOS Hyères-Toulon	170 : 154	CSU Asesoft Ploieşti	103 : 770	67: 77
EWE Baskets Oldenburg	150 : 120	KK Borac nectar	76 : 46	74:74
Liège Basket	154 : 137	YES Vichy	74 : 67	80 : 70
Banvit BK	165: 189	Proteas EKA AEL	093: 100	72: 89

Participants in the main round

32 teams took part in the regular season of the Eurochallenge.

• 9 clubs qualified directly for the main draw
• 15 clubs as losers in the two qualifying rounds of the Eurocup .
• 8 clubs as winners of the two qualifying rounds of the Eurochallenge.

Attendees
Country / League	number	Teams (VJP)
Russia ( Super League )	4th	Triumph Lyubertsy 2	Urals Great Perm 2	ZSK WWS Samara 1	Rostov locomotive
Belgium ( ELB )	3	Base Ostend 2	Belgacom Liège 1	Dexia Mons-Hainaut
Ukraine ( Super League )	3	BK Kiev 2	BK Sumychimprom 1	Chimik Yuschne
Germany ( BBL )	3	Telekom Baskets Bonn 2	Deutsche Bank Skyliners 1	EWE Baskets Oldenburg 1
Cyprus ( Division 1 )	2	Proteas EKA AEL 1	Keravnos Strovoulou
Estonia ( KME )	2	Tartu skirt 2	BC Kalev
France ( LNB )	2	Cholet Basket 2	SAOS Hyères-Toulon 1
Netherlands ( FEB )	2	EclipseJet MyGuide 2	EiffelTowers Den Bosch 1
Greece ( A1 )	1	GS Olympia Larisa
Israel ( ha'Al )	1	Hapoel Jerusalem 2
Italy ( Lega A )	1	Virtus Bologna
Croatia ( KBL )	1	KK Zagreb
Latvia ( LBL )	1	BK Ventspils
Lithuania ( LKL )	1	KK Šiauliai 2
Austria ( Admiral League )	1	Alliance Swans Gmunden 2
Poland ( PLK )	1	Energa Czarni Słupsk 2
Switzerland ( LNB )	1	Benetton Friborg 2nd
Spain ( ACB )	1	Cajasol Seville 2nd
Turkey ( TBL )	1	Galatasaray Café Crown 2

¹ Eurochallenge qualifying round winner

²Loser of the 1st qualifying round of the Eurocup

1st group stage

The first group stage matches took place between November 25, 2008 and January 13, 2009.

Group A

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Belgacom Liège	6th	6th	0	492	433
2. Cajasol	6th	3	3	480	405
3. Ventspils	6th	2	4th	436	509
4. Czarni Slupsk	6th	1	5	462	523

	Liège	Cajasol	Ventspils	Slupsk
Liège	*	89 : 84	69 : 62	89 : 64
Cajasol	78: 79	*	98 : 51	89 : 75
Ventspils	54: 73	78 : 70	*	94 : 88
Slupsk	91: 93	53: 83	91 : 75	*

Group B

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Ural Great	6th	5	1	498	433
2. Telekom Bonn	6th	3	3	417	413
3. Hyeres Toulon	6th	3	3	478	485
4. Keravnos	6th	1	5	434	496

	Urals Great	Bonn	Toulon	Keravnos
Urals Great	*	82 : 54	84 : 76	85 : 64
Bonn	64: 70	*	71 : 61	78 : 55
Toulon	94 : 83	72: 86	*	87 : 76
Keravnos	81: 94	73 : 64	85: 88	*

Group C

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Cholet Basket	6th	6th	0	485	410
2. Rostov locomotive	6th	4th	2	460	424
3. Sumychimprom	6th	1	5	471	513
4. Benetton Friborg	6th	1	5	384	453

	Cholet	Rostov	Sumy	Friborg
Cholet	*	76 : 72	100 : 77	79 : 52
Rostov	65: 66	*	99 : 72	66 : 65
Sumy	81: 82	84: 89	*	90 : 73
Friborg	63: 82	61: 69	70 : 67	*

Group D

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. AEL Limassol	6th	4th	2	519	456
2. EiffelTowers	6th	4th	2	501	480
3. KK Šiauliai	6th	4th	2	484	497
4. Swans Gmunden	6th	0	6th	428	499

	Limassol	EiffelTowers	Šiauliai	Gmunden
Limassol	*	95 : 77	102 : 76	86 : 62
EiffelTowers	87 : 76	*	96 : 82	77 : 70
Šiauliai	77 : 75	82 : 80	*	89 : 76
Gmunden	77: 85	75: 84	68: 78	*

Group E

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. EWE Baskets	6th	4th	2	469	451
2. MyGuide Amsterdam	6th	3	3	435	447
3. Hapoel Jerusalem	6th	3	3	397	377
4. Olympia Larisa	6th	2	4th	357	383

	Oldenburg	Amsterdam	Hapoel	Larisa
Oldenburg	*	78 : 62	79 : 70	76 : 73
Amsterdam	76 : 73	*	73: 74	68 : 64
Hapoel	81: 88	81: 83	*	20 : 0 *
Larisa	89 : 75	77 : 73	54: 71	*

^* Due to the unsafe situation in the Gaza Strip , Laris did not travel to Jerusalem and the game was scored for the Israelis.

Group F.

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Dexia Mons-Hainaut	6th	4th	2	514	451
2. Galatasaray	6th	4th	2	483	447
3. KK Zagreb	6th	2	4th	443	492
4. Chimik Juschny	6th	2	4th	449	499

	Dexia	Galatasaray	Zagreb	Chimik
Dexia	*	91 : 65	99 : 69	82 : 76
Galatasaray	80 : 68	*	87 : 72 a.d.	94 : 51
Zagreb	66: 84	78: 82	*	88 : 78
Chimik	95 : 90 a.d.	87 : 75	62: 70	*

Group G

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Virtus Bologna	6th	5	1	472	444
2. ZSK-WWS	6th	3	3	440	439
3. Base Ostend	6th	2	4th	490	487
4. Tartu skirt	6th	2	4th	451	483

	Bologna	ZSK-WWS	East End	Tartu
Bologna	*	75 : 69	70 : 69	95 : 85
ZSK-WWS	72 : 70	*	86 : 72	58: 66
East End	76: 87	98 : 75	*	92 : 82
Tartu	73: 75 a.d.	58: 80	87 : 83	*

Group H.

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Lyubertsy's triumph	6th	4th	2	441	405
2. BK Kiev	6th	4th	2	440	393
3. Skyliners Frankfurt	6th	2	4th	375	425
4. Kalev Cramo	6th	2	4th	431	464

	triumph	Kiev	Frankfurt	Kalev
triumph	*	67 : 64	76 : 58	75 : 59
Kiev	66 : 65	*	78 : 46	90 : 75
Frankfurt	77 : 71	58: 66	*	61 : 57
Kalev	81: 87 a.d.	82 : 76	77 : 75	*

2nd group stage (Top 16)

The Top 16 games took place between January 27, 2009 and March 10, 2009.

Group I.

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Cholet Basket	6th	5	1	450	408
2. Telekom Bonn	6th	3	3	415	425
3. Belgacom Liège	6th	2	4th	410	432
4. EiffelTowers	6th	2	4th	433	443

	Cholet	Bonn	Liège	EiffelTowers
Cholet	*	71 : 54	71: 78	85 : 68
Bonn	68: 71	*	79 : 64	84 : 77
Liège	70: 80	59: 67	*	81 : 68
EiffelTowers	70: 72	83 : 63	67 : 58	*

Group J

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Virtus Bologna	6th	4th	2	479	444
2. BK Kiev	6th	4th	2	446	399
3. EWE Baskets	6th	3	3	456	470
4. Galatasaray	6th	1	5	478	546

	Bologna	Kiev	Oldenburg	Galatasaray
Bologna	*	68 : 64	81: 82	93 : 77
Kiev	57: 69	*	64 : 54	95 : 62
Oldenburg	73 : 64	73: 86	*	85: 93
Galatasaray	91: 104	73: 80	82: 89	*

Group K

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. AEL Limasol	6th	5	1	472	421
2. Ural Great	6th	3	3	453	453
3. Cajasol Seville	6th	2	4th	417	418
4. Rostov locomotive	6th	2	4th	399	449

	Limasol	Urals Great	Cajasol	Rostov
Limasol	*	102 : 75	88 : 78	74 : 60
Urals Great	83 : 57	*	61: 72	69 : 60
Cajasol	56: 64	76: 81	*	74 : 61
Rostov	69: 87	86 : 84	63 : 61	*

Group L

team	Sp	S.	N	P +	P-
1. Lyubertsy's triumph	6th	5	1	472	431
2. MyGuide Amsterdam	6th	4th	2	481	461
3. Dexia Mons-Hainaut	6th	3	3	495	482
4. ZSK-WWS Samara	6th	0	6th	429	503

	triumph	Amsterdam	Dexia	ZSK-WWS
triumph	*	76 : 75	76 : 73	86 : 67
Amsterdam	68: 85	*	87 : 75	84 : 69
Dexia	83 : 68	86: 93	*	101 : 85
ZSK-WWS	65: 81	70: 74	73: 77 a.d.	*

Quarter finals

The quarterfinals were played in a best-of-three series. The games took place from March 17th to March 25th, 2009.

Game#		total		1st game	2nd game	3rd game
1	Cholet Basket	2: 1	BK Kiev	68 : 52	72: 77	80 : 74
2	Virtus Bologna	2-0	Telekom Baskets Bonn	86 : 76	106 : 91
3	Proteas EKA AEL	2-0	MyGuide Amsterdam	82 : 72	83 : 72
4th	Triumph Lyubertsy	2: 1	Urals Great	100: 102 a.d.	91 : 65	78 : 63

Final Four

Final Four MVP:
Keith Langford

The Final Four took place from April 24th to 26th, 2009 in the FuturShow Station in Bologna .

	Semifinals					final
	April 24, 2009
	1	Cholet Basket	81
	2	Triumph Lyubertsy	78			April 26, 2009
						1	Cholet Basket	75
	April 24, 2009					3	Virtus Bologna	77
	3	Virtus Bologna	83
	4th	Proteas EKA AEL	69
						3rd place match
						April 26, 2009
						2	Triumph Lyubertsy	94
						4th	Proteas EKA AEL	82

Final Four MVP

• Keith Langford (Virtus Bologna)

Web links

• EuroChallenge - Homepage of the competition on the website of FIBA ​​Europe (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Virtus BolognaFiere Beat Brave Cholet (English)
2. ↑ Bologna To Host EuroChallenge Final Four