Clear affair

Oberwart Gunners crown themselves champions against Graz

The Oberwart Gunners have done it.(Bild: GEPA)

The Oberwart Gunners have been crowned national men's basketball champions for the third time in their club's history. The team from Burgenland won 81:80 (40:50) against UBSC Graz in Kapfenberg on Thursday evening, converting their first match point. 

Oberwarter, who had already won the championship title in 2011 and 2016, decided the "best of five" final series of the Superliga (BSL) clearly and emphatically in its favor with a 3:0 win.

After losing 61:86 and 67:72 in the first two games, Graz tried to seize the momentum with only half the home court advantage. The game had to be played in Kapfenberg, as the home arena at the Sportpark an der Mur was not available. Neither team was able to open up a decisive gap at first, but the home side went on a 10:0 spurt to take a 40:40 lead into half-time.

Race to catch up was successful
Oberwart launched a comeback in the third quarter and did not need long to equalize. It was 60:60 going into the final quarter, in which a neck-and-neck thriller ensued. The club from Styria squandered a six-point lead and ultimately had to concede defeat by a wafer-thin margin after a tough final spell characterized by many interruptions. The Gunners thus follow the Swans Gmunden as Austrian champions.