Final preview: Iberostar Tenerife v Banvit

TENERIFE (Basketball Champions League) - Either Iberostar Tenerife or Banvit will make history on Sunday night as the first-ever champion of the Basketball Champions League.

To lift the trophy would put an exclamation mark on a remarkable campaign.

The Canary Islanders have an advantage as the hosts, something that was evident on Friday when they stormed to victory over Umana Reyer Venezia.

But the mantra of Banvit in the 2016-17 campaign has been "refuse to lose", something that was also there for all to see in the opening game of the Final Four when they hit back from a 13-point deficit and defeated AS Monaco.

There is one clear difference between these teams. Txus Vidorreta, the coach of Iberostar Tenerife, uses most, if not all, of his players in a 40-minute game while Banvit counterpart Saso Filipovski effectively calls on eight.

Any one of Tenerife players is capable of catching fire on offense. On Friday, that player was Tim Abromaitis, who had 17 of his 19 points in the decisive first half.

"We're such a balanced team," the power forward said. "That's been our calling card all year long."

Banvit are not, it seems, at a disadvantage despite having less weapons. 

"Banvit has a short roster but they are used to playing like that," Vidoretta said.

The Turkish outfit did, indeed, rely on its core group of players to grind out an impressive victory against Monaco, with sharpshooting forward Gediminas Orelik logging all 40 minutes and starting point guard Jordan Theodore playing all but three seconds.

Making his performance even more impressive was that Theodore didn't alter the way he was playing defense when he picked up his fourth foul early in the fourth quarter. Theodore didn't give an inch when guarding Zack Wright and Dee Bost.

Theodore played tough defense even after picking up his fourth foul

"I'm on the court a lot," Theodore said. "I barely come out of the game so I just want to make my presence felt any way that I can."

There has certainly not been a better player this season in the league than Theodore, whose most memorable play came at the end of Banvit's thrilling Quarter-Final triumph over MHP RIESEN.

The playmaker caught an outlet pass from Edo Muric and dribbled the ball three-quarters of the length of the court before making a lay-up with just 0.5 seconds on the clock for a one-point triumph over the German club on aggregate.

While he had some struggles shooting the ball against Monaco, Theodore still finished with 21 points, 11 assists and 2 steals.

Iberostar Tenerife can't forget about the other Banvit players. Jeremy Chappell has truly been a unsung hero for the team and it was his key plays on both ends of the floor in the third quarter that really changed the momentum of the game for Banvit.

Orelik put in a gritty performance and finished with 16 points while Furkan Korkmaz struggled with some of the contact but still drilled four vitally important 3-pointers.

Damian Kulig and Gasper Vidmar could not have done much more in the low post, either, combining for 19 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

It's tempting to think, especially for the boisterous fans of Iberostar Tenerife, that the hosts will get their hands on the trophy but there is an undeniable quality about Banvit, whose players continue to show they have the character of champions.

Already this season they have won the Turkish Cup and according to Theodore, the players are going to pull out all stops to celebrate another title.

"We've got one more," he said. "It's not over."

Still, Iberostar Tenerife haven't made it this far to fall one victory short of the greatest moment in club history. They make the extra pass on offense and played like demons on defense.

They will get after Banvit for 40 minutes. The one certainty is that it's going to be an amazing ending to an amazing first season in the Basketball Champions League.