THESSALONIKI (Greece) – Bilbao Basket completed a memorable season by defeating PAOK mateco to become FIBA Europe Cup champions.
They became the first Spanish winners of the competition, after holding on to seal a 154-149 aggregate triumph, despite an 84-82 defeat in the second leg in Greece.
Bilbao had set the platform for success with a 72-65 victory in the first leg – ensuring they had a perfect 10-0 record at home in the competition this season, but found themselves nine points down on Wednesday.
They rallied behind Melwin Pantzar and Harald Frey making crucial scores down the stretch to secure the title for Bilbao – their first on the international stage.
Swedish guard Pantzar took home Finals MVP honors after impressive performances across both legs to average 18.0 points, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game.
It was a tough overall defeat for PAOK in front of their passionate home fans, as their debut campaign in the competition came up short of adding a first European title since 1994.
Bilbao are the ninth different winner in FIBA Europe Cup history, and only the second champions to have started from the Qualifiers.
