A basket from Pete Mickeal with just under 24 seconds left on the clock gave Tau Ceramica a thrilling 100-98 win in the final of the King's Cup against Unicaja Malaga.
The two sides produced one of the most exciting finals that Spanish basketball has seen in many years, but in the end Tau, the team from the city of Vitoria, was able to forget last year's final defeat with a hard-fought win.
The team coached by Dusko Ivanovic had beaten Pamesa Valencia and Regal Barcelona on the way to the final, held in Madrid's Palacio de Deportes.
However, against Unicaja the result was in doubt until the last second.
A dramatic game between went into overtime with the scores tied 87-87 after 40 minutes.
Sergi Vidal had the chance to win the game for Tau in the closing seconds, with two free throws as his side led 87-85, but he missed them both, before the game almost swung Unicaja's way.
Joseph Gomis leveled the scores and had an additional free throw to win the Cup, only to miss it and take the match into an additional five minutes.
Tau always held the advantage in overtime, but the stage looked set for a second period of after Marcus Haislip netted from outside of the paint to level matters again at 98-98.
That set the stage for Mickeal's decisive points, although Tau still had to defend one last Unicaja attack and Mirza Teletovic was another of his team's heroes as he blocked Berni Rodriguez's attempted three-point throw that could still have snatched triumph for Unicaja
Tau led 18-17 after the first quarter, but by halftime Unicaja had sneaked ahead 43-42. Tau threatened to escape in the third period, but was hauled back to just three points with just 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
That set the stage for the dramatic finish and Tau can add another King's Cup to the titles they won in 2004 and 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency Feburary 23, 2009)
