European Champions' Cup Play-Offs 1971-1972

The final this year was held in Tel Aviv, in the brand new 'La Mano de Elias' pavilion (remodeled just a month ago, with a considerable increase in its capacity and the placement of a roof to cover its outdoor track), Ignis and Jugoplastika have played a very close final in which either team was able to achieve victory and that was only decided in the last seconds. The victory of the Italian team had a name of its own: Dino Meneghin (204-C-1950). The rocky pivot from Varese was the true hero of his team, scoring 21 points, capturing countless rebounds and effectively defending the fearsome Petar Skansi. Meneghin's great performance made nobody remember the absence of power forward Ivan Bisson (who had broken his wrist during a training session in Italy).

The Jugoplastika, with a game as simple as it is effective, came out highly motivated and ready to win their first European title. The strong individual defences of both teams led to some tough breaks between the players, and this made the game a little bit tricky. After a few initial measures of Italian domination (4th, min. 3), Jugoplastika took the lead (16-17, min. 12) thanks mainly to Skansi's scoring ability, which was very brilliant in this first half (although in the second half the irony of Meneghin's scoring made him go down quite a bit).

The second half started with the same characteristics as the first half had ended: great defensive intensity and fast Italian counterattacks. After ten minutes, an extraordinary reaction from Ignis, led by Raga, put the Varesinos in the lead. Just when Split's side seemed to be at their worst from the previous effort, Solman emerged to keep his team afloat with his shots on suspension. With three minutes remaining, Varese's side were leading by seven points, although the Jugoplastika players put on a tremendous amount of pressure to get ahead (68-69). With the ball in Ignis' possession and an ironclad defence over the two most dangerous men in the Italian camp (Raga and Meneghin), Italian-American Tony Gennari found himself unmarked and with a corner kick, he made the winning basket ten seconds from time (70-69). Jugoplastika still had one last chance to win, but 'Solman missed a simple tray and could not prevent the Varese fans from celebrating, as they were able to enjoy the return of captain Flaborea carrying the second Ignis European Cup.

Courtesy of BasketFinals

Ignis Varese - Jugoplastika Split 70-69

Ignis Varese (coach: Aza Nikolic): Aldo Ossola 4, Dodo Rusconi, Manuel Raga 20, Marino Zanatta 4, Dino Meneghin 21; Tony Gennari 8, Ottorino Flaborea 13, Paolo Vittori, Graziano Malachin dnp, Walter Vigna dnp, Iwan Bisson dnp
KK Jugoplastika (coach: Branko Radovic): Mihajlo Manovic 5, Rato Tvrdic 10, Damir Solman 20, Zdenko Prug 8, Petar Skansi 24; Lovro Tvrdic 2, Branko Macura, Drago Peterka dnp, Zoran Graso dnp, Ivica Skaric dnp, Drazen Tvrdic dnp, Duje Krstulovic