1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
League FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
Sport Basketball
Finals
Champions Simmenthal Milano
  Runners-up Crvena zvezda

The 1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the sixth edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 4 November 1971, to 21 March 1972. It was contested by 21 teams, five less than in the previous edition, and it marked a reform in the competition's format; a 6-team group stage was introduced, replacing the quarterfinals.

Defending champion, Simmenthal Milano, defeated Crvena zvezda in the final, which returned to a single game format, to win its second trophy, becoming the first team to successfully defend its title. It was the third title in a row for an Italian League team. This season's FIBA European Champions Cup final, also featured Italian and Yugoslav League teams, with the same outcome.

Participants

First round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Spartak ZJŠ Brno 224–150 Arantia Larochette 111–65 113–85
Fides Napoli 164–120 Mainz 82–49 82–71
Juventud Schweppes 4–0* Partizani Tirana 2–0 2–0
Sutton & Crystal Palace 171–118 Gladsaxe 83–68 88–50
Maccabi Haifa 158–200 Denain Voltaire 82–109 76–91
Racing Bell Mechelen 190–144 Coimbra 113–71 77–73
Ghouta 0–4* Levski-Spartak 0–2 0–2
AEK 139–111 Beşiktaş 72–45 67–66
Handelsministerium 4–0* Fiat Stars 2–0 2–0
Crvena zvezda 196–139 Helsingin Kisa-Toverit 95–62 101–77

*Partizani Tirana (for political reasons), Ghouta and Blue Stars Amsterdam all withdrew before the first leg, and their rivals received a forfeit (2-0) in both games.

Second round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Spartak ZJŠ Brno 151–168 Fides Napoli 69–76 82–92
Juventud Schweppes 217–107 Sutton & Crystal Palace 120–62 97–45
Denain Voltaire 146–158 Racing Bell Mechelen 74–68 72–90
Levski-Spartak 170–184 AEK 103–69 67–115
Handelsministerium 158–205 Crvena zvezda 90–97 68–108
Automatically qualified to the quarter-finals group stage

Quarterfinals

The quarter finals were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record.

Key to colors
     Top two places in each group advance to semifinals

Group A

1st leg 2nd leg Agg
Fides Napoli – Racing Bell Mechelen 97-82 77-90 177-172
Juventud Schweppes – Fides Napoli 83-69 66-92 149-161
Racing Bell Mechelen – Juventud Schweppes 96-77 57-77 153-154
Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD
1. Fides Napoli 2 4 2 0 335 321 +14
2. Juventud Schweppes 2 3 1 1 303 314 -11
3. Racing Bell Mechelen 2 2 0 2 325 328 -3

Group B

1st leg 2nd leg Agg
AEK – Simmenthal Milano 57-84 76-117 133-201
Crvena zvezda – AEK 100-63 76-100 176-163
Simmenthal Milano – Crvena zvezda 86-62 58-84 144-146
Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD
1. Crvena zvezda 2 4 2 0 322 307 +15
2. Simmenthal Milano 2 3 1 1 345 279 +66
3. AEK 2 2 0 2 296 377 -81

Semifinals

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Fides Napoli 152–161 Simmenthal Milano 69–85 83–76
Juventud Schweppes 153–160 Crvena zvezda 83–70 70–90

Final

March 21, Alexandreio Melathron, Thessaloniki

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Simmenthal Milano 74–70 Crvena zvezda
1971–72 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Champions

Simmenthal Milano
2nd title