2014–15 EuroChallenge

EuroChallenge
Season	2014–15
Duration	4 November 2014 – 26 April 2015
Number of teams	32
Finals
Champions	JSF Nanterre (1st title)
Runners-up	Trabzonspor Medical Park
Third place	Energia Târgu Jiu
Fourth place	Fraport Skyliners
Final Four MVP	Jamal Shuler
Statistical leaders
Points Ryan Pearson 19.8 Rebounds Kyrylo Fesenko 10.1 Assists Courtney Fortson 9.8
← 2013–14 2015–16 FIBA Europe Cup →

The 2014–15 EuroChallenge was the 12th and last edition of Europe's third-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs. The winner and the runner-up of this competition earned a place at the group stage of next year's Eurocup season.

The regular season was composed by 32 teams and it started on 4 November 2014. The season ended on 26 April 2015, when JSF Nanterre beat Trabzonspor Medical Park 63–64 in the Final in Trabzon, Turkey.

It was the last season of the EuroChallenge, starting from the 2015–16 season, the competition was replaced by the FIBA Europe Cup.

Competition format

As in the previous season, the 32 participants were divided into two conferences. Teams were divided into eight round-robin groups of four teams each for the regular season. The two best-placed teams qualified to the next phase of the competition.

Teams

No qualification rounds were played, all teams entered the regular season. FIBA Europe announced the participants on 1 July 2014.^[1] One day later, Szolnoki Olaj and VEF Rīga were moved to 2014–15 Eurocup as a replacement of two withdrawals. Trabzonspor Medical Park and Enisey Krasnoyarsk replaced them in the EuroChallenge.^[2] The labels in the parentheses show how each team qualified for the place of its starting round. (TH: Title holder)

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.: League position after eventual playoffs

Regular season
Okapi Aalstar (2nd)	Uşak Sportif (7th)	ratiopharm Ulm (7th)	Astana (1st)
Belfius Mons-Hainaut (3rd)	Tofaş (8th)	Fraport Skyliners (11th)	Šiauliai (6th)
Port of Antwerp Giants (4th)	Trabzonspor Medical Park (9th)	Enisey (6th)	Bakken Bears (1st)
Oradea (2nd)	Le Mans (5th)	Avtodor [a] (1st)	Tsmoki-Minsk (1st)
U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (3rd)	JSF Nanterre (9th)	Enel Brindisi (6th)	Tartu University Rock (2nd)
Energia Târgu Jiu (8th)	Atomerőmű SE (2nd)	Bonprix Biella [b] (4th)	Benfica (1st)
Kataja (2nd)	Egis Körmend (8th)	Södertälje Kings (1st)	Lukoil Academic (2nd)
KTP (4th)	magnofit Güssing Knights (1st)	Borås (3rd)	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch (2nd)

Draw

The draw for the regular season was held on 6 July in Munich, Germany.

The 32 clubs registered for this year's competition were divided into two conferences (1 and 2), based on broad geographical criteria.^[3]

Conference 1

Seed 1	Seed 2	Seed 3	Seed 4
Port of Antwerp Giants Okapi Aalstar Joensuun Kataja Södertälje Kings	KTP-Basket Bakken Bears Belfius Mons-Hainaut SPM Shoeters	JSF Nanterre Le Mans Sarthe ratiopharm Ulm Fraport Skyliners	Enel Brindisi Angelico Biella Borås Basket Benfica

Conference 2

Seed 1	Seed 2	Seed 3	Seed 4
Tsmoki-Minsk Tartu Ülikool/Rock Tofaş Atomerőmű	Enisey Krasnoyarsk CSM Oradea Körmend U Mobitelco Cluj	Avtodor Uşak Sportif Trabzonspor Medical Park Energia Târgu Jiu	UBC Güssing Knights Lukoil Academic Šiauliai Astana

Regular season

The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the last 16, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

If teams in the same group finished tied on points at the end of the regular season, tiebreakers were applied in the following order:

1. Head-to-head record.
2. Head-to-head point differential.
3. Point differential during the regular season.
4. Points scored during the regular season.
5. Sum of quotients of points scored and points allowed in each regular season match.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		BRI	SPM	ULM	SÖD
1	Enel Brindisi	6	5	1	496	400	+96	11	Advance to last 16		—	76–62	88–70	90–69
2	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	6	3	3	498	499	−1	9[a]			71–69	—	87–76	88–72
3	ratiopharm Ulm	6	3	3	477	467	+10	9[a]			76–77	91–82	—	88–62
4	Södertälje Kings	6	1	5	441	546	−105	7			52–96	115–108	71–76	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TAR	ENE	KÖR	LUK
1	Tartu University Rock	6	4	2	428	420	+8	10	Advance to last 16		—	66–59	81–83	71–59
2	Energia Târgu Jiu	6	3	3	428	435	−7	9[a]			74–56	—	73–72	72–67
3	Egis Körmend	6	3	3	447	460	−13	9[a]			72–79	77–76	—	63–76
4	Lukoil Academic	6	2	4	447	435	+12	8			73–75	97–74	75–80	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		OKA	FRA	BOR	BAK
1	Okapi Aalstar	6	5	1	557	507	+50	11	Advance to last 16		—	94–59	119–118	103–100
2	Fraport Skyliners	6	4	2	464	421	+43	10			80–58	—	70–72	74–64
3	Borås	6	3	3	505	516	−11	9			83–92	61–94	—	90–70
4	Bakken Bears	6	0	6	457	539	−82	6			83–92	61–94	79–86	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		AVT	AST	TOF	ORA
1	Avtodor	6	5	1	530	438	+92	11	Advance to last 16		—	83–75	80–75	92–73
2	Astana	6	5	1	492	461	+31	11			75–73	—	73–65	80–64
3	Tofaş	6	2	4	469	504	−35	8			66–101	102–104	—	84–75
4	Oradea	6	0	6	429	517	−88	6			74–101	74–83	69–77	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		NAN	BEL	SLB	KAT
1	JSF Nanterre	6	5	1	529	478	+51	11	Advance to last 16		—	88–68	80–68	102–92
2	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	6	5	1	489	451	+38	11			94–86	—	92–63	71–62
3	Benfica	6	2	4	486	519	−33	8			86–96	86–96	—	107–82
4	Kataja	6	0	6	479	535	−56	6			70–77	83–85	90–93	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TS	GÜS	UMO	ASE
1	Trabzonspor Medical Park	6	6	0	514	450	+64	12	Advance to last 16		—	80–72	91–72	103–81
2	magnofit Güssing Knights	6	4	2	477	456	+21	10			67–77	—	84–77	93–84
3	U-Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca	6	1	5	442	478	−36	7			80–81	68–81	—	64–73
4	Atomerőmű SE	6	1	5	454	503	−49	7			78–82	70–80	68–81	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MSB	ANT	BIE	KTP
1	Le Mans	6	5	1	478	414	+64	11	Advance to last 16		—	72–66	88–74	71–52
2	Port of Antwerp Giants	6	3	3	542	514	+28	9			78–87	—	92–82	98–83
3	Bonprix Biella	6	3	3	511	525	−14	9			82–64	97–96	—	81–77
4	KTP	6	1	5	475	553	−78	7			62–96	93–112	108–95	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		ENI	UŞA	ŠIA	TSM
1	Enisey	6	4	2	515	467	+48	10	Advance to last 16		—	95–79	86–68	87–82
2	Uşak Sportif	6	3	3	445	458	−13	9			69–84	—	79–69	78–59
3	Šiauliai	6	3	3	493	515	−22	9			93–92	75–78	—	83–80
4	Tsmoki-Minsk	6	2	4	473	486	−13	8			76–71	85–73	91–94	—

Last 16

The sixteen teams were divided in four groups of four. In each group, teams play against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advance to the quarterfinals, while the third-placed teams and fourth-placed teams are eliminated.

Group I

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		ENE	BRI	AST	OKA
1	Energia Târgu Jiu	6	4	2	501	498	+3	10	Advance to quarterfinals		—	67–78	90–89	93–60
2	Enel Brindisi	6	3	3	485	445	+40	9			76–78	—	74–65	101–66
3	Astana	6	3	3	512	509	+3	9			113–89	83–75	—	77–73
4	Okapi Aalstar	6	2	4	475	521	−46	8			82–84	86–81	108–85	—

Group J

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		NAN	MSB	GÜS	USA
1	JSF Nanterre	6	4	2	487	434	+53	10	Advance to quarterfinals		—	85–68	89–86	100–67
2	Le Mans	6	4	2	464	429	+35	10			72–60	—	93–60	84–63
3	magnofit Güssing Knights	6	2	4	458	471	−13	8			62–82	82–65	—	91–63
4	Uşak Sportif	6	2	4	430	505	−75	8			79–71	79–82	79–77	—

Group K

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		FRA	AVT	TAR	SPM
1	Fraport Skyliners	6	5	1	512	471	+41	11	Advance to quarterfinals		—	68–71	92–73	75–70
2	Avtodor Saratov	6	4	2	567	546	+21	10			103–112	—	105–106	89–85
3	Tartu University Rock	6	2	4	457	501	−44	8			62–71	68–91	—	71–64
4	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	6	1	5	496	514	−18	7			92–94	107–108	78–77	—

Group L

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification		TS	ENI	ANT	BEL
1	Trabzonspor Medical Park	6	5	1	502	456	+46	11	Advance to quarterfinals		—	90–85	89–79	76–68
2	Enisey	6	3	3	516	495	+21	9			96–82	—	85–86	83–88
3	Port of Antwerp Giants	6	3	3	481	509	−28	9			72–90	78–93	—	82–75
4	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	6	1	5	435	474	−39	7			56–75	71–74	77–84	—

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were played in a best-of-three playoff format. Teams that finished first in their top 16 group played the first and third leg at home. Matchdays were on 10 March, 12 March and 17 March 2015.

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Energia Târgu Jiu	2–1	Le Mans Sarthe	84–60	68–79	79–64
JSF Nanterre	2–0	Enel Brindisi	80–68	77–72	0
Fraport Skyliners	2–1	Enisey	77–74	68–78	85–80
Trabzonspor Medical Park	2–0	Avtodor Saratov	94–88	100–73	0

Final Four

The 2015 Final Four was played on 24 April and 26 April 2015^[4] at Hayri Gür Arena, Trabzon, Turkey.^[5]

	Semifinals 24 April				Final 26 April
	Energia Târgu Jiu	63
	Trabzonspor MP	83
					Trabzonspor MP	63
					JSF Nanterre	64
	JSF Nanterre	84
	Fraport Skyliners	79
					Third place game
					Energia Târgu Jiu	83
					Fraport Skyliners	80

Awards

Final Four MVP

• Jamal Shuler^[6] (JSF Nanterre)

Top Statistical Performer

Each round a Weekly MVP is chosen, determined by the Performance Index Rating (PIR) system.

Regular season

Week	Player	Team	PIR
1	Sean Marshall	Trabzonspor	33
2	J'Covan Brown	Astana	36
3	LaMonte Ulmer	KTP	34
4	Christian Maråker	Borås	39
5	Travis Peterson	Avtodor	35
6	Stefan Wessels	SPM Shoeters	43

Last 16

Week	Player	Team	PIR
1	Kyle Weems	JSF Nanterre	39
2	Jerry Johnson	Astana	37
3	Travis Taylor	Güssing Knights	32
4	Nik Caner-Medley	Astana	28
5	Courtney Fortson	Avtodor	42
6	DeAndre Kane	Antwerp Giants	37
	Quantez Robertson	Fraport Skyliners

Quarterfinals

Week	Player	Team	PIR
1	Nemanja Milosevic	Energia Târgu Jiu	33
2	Kyrylo Fesenko	Avtodor	22
	Mykal Riley	JSF Nanterre
	Terrico White	Enisey Krasnoyarsk
3	Johannes Voigtmann	Fraport Skyliners	33

Individual statistics

Points

Pos.	Player	Team	GP	PPG
1	Ryan Pearson	Antwerp Giants	12	19.8
2	Dwight Hardy	Trabzonspor	16	18.1
3	J'Covan Brown	Astana	10	17.5

Rebounds

Pos.	Player	Team	GP	RPG
1	Kyrylo Fesenko	Avtodor	11	10.1
2	Travis Taylor	Güssing Knights	12	10.1
3	Nemanja Milosevic	Energia	17	8.5

Assists

Pos.	Player	Team	GP	APG
1	Courtney Fortson	Avtodor	13	9.8
2	D.J. Cooper	Enisey	15	7.9
3	Jerry Johnson	Astana	10	7.0

Season highs

	Statistic	Player	Team
Points	42	Robert Arnold	Kataja
Rebounds	20	Christian Maråker	Borås
Assists	16	Teemu Rannikko	Kataja
Steals	7	Terrico White	Enisey
Blocks	6	Dounia Issa	Le Mans Sarthe
Three-point field goals	8	Benjamin Raymond	Bonprix Biella
		Kees Akerboom, Jr.	SPM Shoeters

See also

• 2014–15 Euroleague
• 2014–15 Eurocup Basketball

References