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| NEWSVirtus BolognaFiere survived against a determined Cholet Basket on Sunday in Italy to win this season's EuroChallenge.
Matteo Boniciolli's team, riding the hot hand of 21-point Keith Langford, edged the French outfit 77-75 in the Final.
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BC Triumph signed off from the EuroChallenge Final Four on Sunday in Bologna with a 94-82 win over Proteas EKA AEL. Stanislav Eremine's Triumph, edged 81-78 by Cholet Basket in their Semi-Final on Friday, got 20 points in the first 12 minutes of the game from Sergey Toporov. |
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Virtus BolognaFiere are only 40 minutes away from adding another glorious chapter to their rich basketball history but rest assured, "laid-back" Cholet Basket plan to prevent that from happening in Sunday's EuroChallenge final. |
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It's the first time in Bologna for FIBA America's Head of Communications Javier Otero. "It's is a beautiful city," says Otero who is based at FIBA America headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico. |
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Virtus Bologna set up a dream title game for Italian fans at the EuroChallenge Final Four after rolling to an 83-69 home triumph over Proteas EKA AEL on Friday night at the FuturShow Station. The Cypriot club gave Virtus fits for a half but Matteo Boniciolli's team pulled away for a decisive victory and will now face Cholet Basket for the championship. |
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Cholet clinched a thrilling win over BC Triumph on Friday night in Bologna to advance to the final of the EuroChallenge. Claude Marquis had 20 points, Kevin Braswell 19 and Vincent Grier 16 as the French outfit prevailed 81-78. |
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Virtus BolognaFiere were served up two timely reminders ahead of the EuroChallenge Final Four that any lapse of concentration against Proteas EKA AEL on Friday could prove fatal. The Italian giants, after almost upsetting runaway Lega A leaders Montepaschi Siena last Thursday, suffered a 93-84 defeat at Carife Ferrara over the weekend. |
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Cholet Basket will have their biggest weapon available this weekened in the EuroChallenge Final Four with Nando De Colo on court again after suffering a broken nose. The French international picked up the injury in Cholet's Game 3 decider against BC Kyiv and hit the sidelines but he returned for the LNB game against ASVEL and gave his team an emotional lift in a 69-66 win. |
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The EuroChallenge Final Four will be staged in ‘Basket City' in 2009. Home to the great Italian derby, Virtus v Fortitudo, Bologna is the setting for the climax of what has been a thrilling European competition that tipped off back on October 7, when teams battled in Qualifying Round 1. |
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Few people at the start of the EuroChallenge season would have expected Cholet to make it to the Final Four but then again, no one counted on young guard Rodrigue Beaubois turning into one of the competition's most explosive scorers. |
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FIBA Europe announced on Friday that the 2009 EuroChallenge Final Four will be held in the historic Italian city of Bologna, home of Final Four participant Virtus BolognaFiere. The event will begin on the 24th of April with the Semifinals and culminate two days later when a champion will be crowned. |
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With the participants set for the EuroChallenge Final Four later this month, all that remains is to name a host. Though nothing has been made official FIBA Europe has initiated negotiations with Virtus BolognaFiere to host the event in the historic Italian city. |
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Dragan Raca led Proteas EKA AEL into the EuroChallenge Final Four but he won't coach the outfit in the competition's showpiece event after being dismissed by the club over the weekend. After falling behind 2-0 in the Cypriot league's play-off semi-finals to APOEL, AEL have shown Raca and his assistant coaches Mike Protics and Thanasis Mastoris the door and replaced them with Serbian Miroslav Nikolic. |
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| FINAL STANDINGS |
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