FIBA Europe Cup 2015/16
The 2015-16 FIBA Europe Cup was the opening campaign of this tournament and it turned out to be an exciting and challenging one for many teams across the continent. Set up to act as a rival to the Eurocup, organised by Euroleague basketball, the tournament was well received by the teams and fans involved with the tournament.
Regular Season
A total of 56 teams were involved in the regular season and these teams were split into fourteen different groups, with four teams involved in each group. Each side played their group rivals twice, resulting in 6 games for each team at this stage of the campaign. This was whittled down to 32 teams for the following stage. Each group saw the top two teams progress to the Round of 32 and then the 4 best ranked third placed teams (two from each conference) made their way through to the next round.
Round of 32
The 32 teams were split into eight groups, with four teams involved in each group. Each side played their group rivals twice which meant that every team played 6 games at this stage. The top two ranked teams in each group progressed to the knockout rounds.
Knockout Rounds
The knockout rounds of the 2015-16 FIBA Europe Cup began in February with the Round of 16 stage. All of the teams played off in a best of 3 series.
The outcomes of the match-ups in this round were:
- ASVEL 0 vs. Port of Antwerp Giants 2
- Openjobmetis Varese 2 vs. Royal Hali Gaziantep 1
- Elan Chalon 2 vs. Telenet Oostende 1
- Energia Targu Jiu 1 vs. Khimik 2
- Ventipilis 0 vs. Maccabi Rishon LeZion 2
- Fraport Skyliners 2 vs. Petrolina AEK Larnaca 0
- Turk Telekom 0 vs. Enisey 2
- Juventus 0 vs. Cibona 2
Quarter-Finals
The quarter-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup were held in March 2016 and the games were played out over a best of 3 series.
The outcomes of the match-ups in this round were:
- Port of Antwerp Giants 1 vs. Openjobmetis Varese 2
- Elan Chalon 2 vs. Khimik 0
- Maccabi Rishon LeZion 1 vs. Fraport Skyliners 2
- Enisey 2 vs. Cibona 1
Semi-Finals
The semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup were played on 29th of April in Chalon-sur-Saône in France, which was the host of the Final Four event of the tournament. The games were played on a one-off basis.
The outcomes of the match-ups in this round were:
- Openjobmetis Varese 91 vs. Elan Chalon 82
- Fraport Skyliners 59 vs. Enisey 56
Third and Fourth Play-off
With a Final Four event taking place, a third and fourth play-off match took place in Chalon-sur-Saône in France on the 1st of May. The score was:
- Elan Chalon103 vs. Enisey 72
Ilian Evtimov grabbed 18 points for the French side that took third place on home soil. Tony Taylor offered up 17 points for the losing Russian side.
Final
The final game of the 2015-16 FIBA Europe Cup took place on the 1st of May in Chalon-sur-Saône in France.
The final score was:
- Openjobmetis Varese 62 vs. Fraport Skyliners 66
This win saw the German side take the trophy and a key player for the triumphant team was Quantez Robertson who grabbed 15 points in the win. For the losing Italian side, Openjobmetis Varese, Maalik Wayns provided 16 points in the defeat.
This triumph was the German sides’ first trophy in the European arena and only their third title in total. Therefore, the 2015-16 FIBA Europe Cup sits proudly alongside the German national title of 2004 and the German Cup in the history books of Fraport Skyliners.