By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Four teams have survived, Baxi Manresa, Hapoel U-NET Holon, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg and Lenovo Tenerife, to battle it out in the Basketball Champions League Final Four Friday through Sunday.
Tonight’s semifinals feature clashes between the first-ever Israeli finalist Hapoel Holon and the inaugural champion Tenerife, and Ludwigsburg colliding with Manresa. Both games will be hosted in Bilbao Arena, as will the championship and third-place contests on Sunday.
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Basketball Champions League Final Four schedule:
Semifinals (6/5)
Hapoel U-NET Holon – Lenovo Tenerife (18:00 CET)
MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg – Baxi Manresa (21:00 CET)
Finals (8/5)
Third-place game (17:00 CET)
Championship game (20:00 CET)
Tenerife, guided by Bilbao-born Txus Vidorreta prevailed in 14 of its 17 BCL showings in the 2021-22 season. The team based in San Cristobal de La Laguna, ready for its third Final Four appearance, is undefeated since edging out Pinar Karsiyaka in do-or-die Game 3 of the Play-Ins.
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Semifinal opponent, Hapoel Holon also went through a best-of-three Play-In series and eliminated Besiktas Icrypex before topping Ludwigsburg and remaining competition of Round of 16 Group I, and sweeping SIG Strasbourg in the Quarterfinals. The team coached by Guy Goodes secured the win in 12 of its 17 outings.
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Ludwigsburg ranked first over Tenerife in Regular Season Group A and settled for the second spot in Group I behind Hapoel Holon. In the Quarterfinals, the Giants came back from a loss in Game 1 to eliminate U-BT Cluj-Napoca and shaped a 10-5 overall record.
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Manresa, headed by Pedro Martinez, dominated Regular Season Group B, secured yet another top seed finish in Round of 16 Group J, and swept ACB rival Unicaja in the Playoffs. An 11-3 record was more than enough for a berth in the Final Four.
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Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League