Final against Oberwart

Sensation! UBSC Graz reaches for the basketball throne

Zach Cooks (r.) and UBSC are in the final.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

The sensation is perfect! After beating Klosterneuburg 81:72, and thus 3:2 in the semi-final series, UBSC Graz has reached the final of the Basketball Super League championship. For the very first time in the club's history, Graz, who were the perceived underdogs going into the battle against the winners of the basic round, can ascend the basketball throne. Graz will face Oberwart in the final on Saturday (17:30).

UBSC Graz set the course for victory in the fifth semi-final game in Klosterneuburg at the end of the third quarter: Led in particular by Jeremy Smith, the team from Murstadt, which employs six Americans, converted their shots with ice-cold precision and established the decisive lead - which they then successfully defended in the cauldron until the end. There were plenty of happy faces for the team from Graz in Happyland. While the hall in Klosterneuburg grew quieter and quieter and whistles were blown, the Graz officials, coaches and players hugged each other.

Statistics can be deceiving
"Nobody would have thought that possible," said a jubilant UBSC sports director Karl Sommer, who had already won the Austrian championship with Fürstenfeld in 2008. "But we acted as a real team, this club has so earned it." Head coach Ervin Dragsic's squad is now reaching for the stars - Oberwart stands between UBSC and their first title win. "We have a 3-0 record against them this season," said UBSC manager Michael Fuchs. "But they've changed a lot, we can't let that fool us." The final series (best-of-five) kicks off on Saturday at the Raiffeisen Sportpark in Graz. A top crowd is expected against the Gunners.