Italian side Reggio Emilia are 2014 Eurochallenge champions after they comfortably beat Russians BC Triumph Lyubertsy 79-65 to end the Final Four in Bologna.
Former New York Knicks player James White led Reggio Emilia with 17 points with Rimantas Kaukenas adding 15 for the winners, as they secure their first ever trophy, outside of the second division.
Andrea Cinciarini was only able to add 7 points to Reggio Emilia’s total on 3/11 shooting, but scooped Eurochallenge Final Four MVP honours, mainly through his 13-point, 12-rebound performance in the semi-final win against Royal Hall Gaziantep.
“We won our last six games in the Eurochallenge and in every single game we improved our attitude and our performance,” Reggio coach Massimiliano Menetti said.
“I want to thank every player, all my coaching staff, but especially the management of the club for the trust that they put in us, believing in this cup since last summer. Step by step we made every fan believe we could do something important, and today we are celebrating the greatest day in our history.”
Courdon Higgins led all scorers in vein for Triumph with 21 points. Milovan Rakovic supported with 20 points.
After a close first few minutes, Cinciarini gave his side the lead at 16-14 and from there, they never looked back. Reggio led 48-32 at the half-time interval, and gave Lyubertsy no chance of getting back into the game.
