Göttingen Win EuroChallenge In Thrilling Final

Hosts Göttingen ignited a giant violet and white themed party in the city after being crowned champions of EuroChallenge 2010 with a hard fought and riveting 83-75 win over Krasnye Krylia.

Amidst scenes of jubilation on the final buzzer, Coach Patrick and his players held their first European trophy aloft much to the delight of a near 4,000 fans inside Lokhalle (watch highlight video here).

BG Göttingen now call the EuroChallenge trophy their own

Those home based supporters revelling in being handed their first major piece of silverware can now also look forward to watching EuroCup basketball in 2010-11.

In another terrific advert for the tournament, the climax of EuroChallenge Final Four weekend didn't disappoint.

To their credit, Krasnye Krylia dug deep as they have all season and pushed the Violets all the way. However in the end, the momentum and a gigantic performance by Chris McNaughton proved to be decisive.

The center was playing in the third tier of Spanish basketball last season but 12 months later is now a EuroChallenge champion and his majestic 22 point performance was instrumental and with this contribution, he wrote himself into Göttingen basketball folklore.

In a clash of styles, Krasnye Krylia did a good job in slowing down the hosts for the majority of the first half and had led 24-22 but a poor finish to the second quarter handed Göttingen a, 35-28 advantage at the interval.

Ralph Biggs tried hard to keep his team alive but came short with the red wings

As much as veteran Ralph Biggs and leading scorer Luis Flores tried, the Red Wings struggled to make up the deficit and with McNaughton on fire, they trailed by double digits heading into the final ten minutes.

When Michael Meeks drained back to back triples to take it out to 68-55, Samara looked a spent force but they again showed their hard-nosed edge.

Coming out of a time-out with just over five minutes to play, Krasnye Krylia rattled off a 14-4 run to get the nerves of the noisy home crowd jangling.

With the tension in the Arena palpable and at times bordering on almost unbearable tension, the German side regained their composure from the free-throw line to seal a historic and memnorable victory.

Quotes Krasnye Krylia vs. BG Göttingen

Krasnye Krylia head coach Mikhail Mikhailov:
Congratulations to Göttingen. They showed good basketball all season long. This Cup belongs to Göttingen. It was a hard game. We tried to play what we can. Göttingen played good defense. We made to many Turnovers and Göttingen's system disturbed our offensive systems. McNaughton made to many points in the low-post. The cup has to go to a team where all players want it and not just two players fighting and the rest trying to stay on the court.

Krasnye Krylia forward Ralph Biggs:
Congrats to Göttingen. They really played well together. We played hard as well. What else can I say. It was a good game.

BG Göttingen head coach John Patrick:
Thanks to Coach Mikhailov and to Samara. It was a very intense game. We played Samara three times this season. Each time it was a close affair. In the end we were deeper with all players giving 110 percent. That helped to wear the opponent down. I want to say thanks to the management and the city. This was really a great event and a great basketball festival. You can see that this town is basketball crazy. Winning a championship with this team is sweet because it is a real special group of guys.

BG center Chris McNaughton:
Thanks to Samara for a great game. It helped that we had home court advantage. It was a real good game and we played with a lot of heart. That made the difference in the end. I am happy for this team, the management, the fans and the whole city.