By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
U-BT Cluj-Napoca hosting MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Tuesday evening (18:00 CET) concludes the Basketball Champions League Quarterfinals. The best-of-three series is tied 1-1 following wins at home for both the Romania and Germany outfits.
Back in Game 1, the Romania champions enjoying the support of a sold-out crowd rallied to secure the win. In response, the team coached by John Patrick knotted the series at 1-1 one week later. Back to BTarena and in front of yet another attendance of 10,000 fans, the two sides will square off in a win-or-go-home contest.
Basketball Champions League Quarterfinals Game 3:
Tuesday
U-BT Cluj-Napoca – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg (18:00 CET)
The team based in Cluj-Napoca went through Qualifiers in Athens before even entering the regular-season field for the first time in team history. Despite playing as the underdog most of the way, the team coached by Mihai Silvasan topped Group G of the Regular Season to skip the Play-Ins and Group K of the Round of 16 to clinch the home-court advantage in the Quarterfinals.
Following three Champions League campaigns, including a run all the way to the Final Four in 2018, Ludwigsburg sat out the two previous campaigns but really did not miss a beat. It ranked first in Group A of the Regular Season for a direct ticket to the Round of 16 and settled for the second spot behind Hapoel Holon in Group I.
Final Four
Spanish sides Baxi Manresa and Lenovo Tenerife along with Israeli team Hapoel U-NET Holon sweeping Unicaja, Tofas Bursa, and SIG Strasbourg, respectively, finished up the remaining best-of-three series and earned a berth in the Final Four. Manresa will take on Cluj-Napoca or Ludwigsburg and BCL lasting original will meet Hapoel Holon in the Final Four semifinals on 6 May in Bilbao Arena. The championship and third-place games will follow at the same venue a couple of days later, on 8 May.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League