London Lions confirmed for second BCL qualification challenge - Hoopsfix.com

London Lions confirmed for second BCL qualification challenge

Justin Robinson Lions

London Lions have been confirmed as European competition participants for the second consecutive season, after the Basketball Champions League has revealed they will be included in the qualifiers.

The Lions quest to qualify for 2021-22 Basketball Champions League regular season will get under way on September 13, with the Qualifying Rounds tournaments, ahead of the Regular Season tip off scheduled for October 4.

Last season, London Lions’ BCL campaign fell at the first hurdle with a tough 77-73 loss to Neptunas Klaipeda, as they dropped into the FIBA Europe Cup where their challenge never got off the ground after being decimated due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

A total of 32 teams will contest the Regular Season with four qualifiers – Lions being one of them – joining the 28 clubs directly qualified. They will play in four groups of 8 teams each, with the group winners qualifying directly for the Round of 16 (the second and third-placed teams will participate in a best-of-3 Play-In where the 8 winners will qualify for the Round of 16), followed by best-of-3 Quarter-Finals that will determine the Final Four. The overall winner will earn the coveted €1 million prize money.

With 42 clubs having finished in the top 5 of their national league, the lineup of the 52 clubs that will participate in the sixth season of the Basketball Champions League is being called ‘the strongest ever in the history of the competition’, with a total of 17 current national champions and more than half of the participating teams having reached the Final of their national competition.

The final lineup was validated and confirmed by the Basketball Champions League Board, that met via videoconference on Thursday evening. Combining for a total of 73 admission forms received for the upcoming season, 30 different European countries will be represented in this 2021-22 season, with a record of 24 leagues represented out of the 24 teams starting in the Qualifying Rounds.

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