OBERWART (Austrian Basketball Bundesliga) - Redwell Gunners Oberwart could not repeat their Cinderella story of last season in the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga, with their title defense coming up short against Kapfenberg Bulls in the Finals.

In spite of coming into the series as Regular Season winners, coach Chris Chougaz's side slumped to a somewhat unexpected 4-1 defeat to the third-seeded Bulls, who registered strong performances in all three rounds of the Play-Offs.

Kapfenberg closed out the series with a 73-64 victory on the road in Oberwart on Thursday evening, with 24-year-old American guard Kareem Jamar pacing the winners with a game-high 17 points.

Bogic Vujosevic, who was later named the Finals MVP, had a near triple-double with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Bulls, while Gunners duo of Chris McNealy and Andell Cumberbatch answered with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

"Congratulations to Kapfenberg, they were the better team. We had a lot of problems since March, but my players fought hard and played good basketball, but it just wasn’t enough," said Oberwart playcaller Chougaz.

The Michael Schrittwieser-coached Kapfenberg put their opponents on the defense right from the get-go after stealing a game on the road in Oberwart’s first two-game home-stand in the series before registering two single-point wins at home to take command of the series.

"Kapfenberg set the tone from the tip-off of the series. They played with a lot of confidence and deservedly earned the title," Gunners captain Sebastien Kaferle concluded after the last game.

In spite of the convincing 4-1 scoreline, all victories by the Bulls in the series came by single-digit margins, which added up to just 15 points combined. Oberwart registered the biggest victory of the series, picking up a 66-56 win in Game 2.

"It was a great Finals, we fought really well and accomplished what we had set out to do. Oberwart is a very athletic team with aggressive defense. We were able to withstand their pressure and showed we are the best team in Austria by winning the Austrian Cup and now becoming champions in the league," said Kapfenberg’s long-serving point guard Armin Woschank, who was also at club during its heyday at the turn of the century.

It was the fifth overall Austrian championship title for the Bulls and the first one since winning four in a row between 2001 and 2004.

Both of the Finalists have represented the country in the FIBA Europe Cup over the last couple of years, with Kapfenberg participating in the inaugural season in 2015-16 before handing over the baton to the Oberwart side for this season.

FIBA