A new feat for Unicaja Baloncesto, which this Sunday was proclaimed champion of the eighth edition of the Basketball Champions League (BCL), after beating Lenovo Tenerife (75-80) at the Belgrade Arena in the Serbian capital. The Malaga team has thus won its third European title and the sixth in its history.
The Final Four of the BCL began last Friday, April 26, with the two semifinals. The team coached by Ibon Navarro won against UCAM Murcia (74-80), thus sealing its place in the final, in which it beat the team from the Canary Islands this Sunday.
In a disputed game at the Belgrade Arena, with the presence of the Serbian Boza Maljkovic, who coached Unicaja between 1999 and 2003, Unicaja was solvent in defense and attack, finally winning a well-deserved title. A vibrant final, in which Kendrick Perry has been elected MVP.
Thanks to the good play of the team and the warmth of the 'green tide' fans, both those who travelled to Belgrade and those who cheered from the Palacio de Deportes 'Martin Carpena' in Malaga, where the club installed a giant screen, Unicaja won its first BCL title and continues to increase its list of trophies.
Specifically, this title represents the sixth in the history of the Malaga team, owned by Fundación Unicaja and sponsored by the financial institution Unicaja since 1977, after winning the 2001 Korac Cup, the 2005 and 2023 Copa del Rey, the 2006 ACB League and the 2017 Eurocup.
This is the third season that the Andalusian team is playing in the Basketball Champions League and the second that it has reached the Final Four, which brings together the four best teams of this continental competition, promoted by FIBAClubCo and 11 of the main European leagues.
Baloncesto Málaga S.A.D.
Unicaja Basketball takes up the legacy of the two clubs that gave origin to it: Caja de Ronda and Mayoral Maristas. Caja de Ronda was founded in 1977 under the name of Sociedad Deportiva Caja de Ronda. Since its creation, it took only four seasons to be promoted to the highest category of Spanish basketball, in the 1980-1981 season.
Mayoral Maristas was founded in 1953 under the name of Ademar Basket Club. It moved up to the ACB League in 1988, remaining in it for four seasons until the merger with Caja de Ronda.
