1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup

The 1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the seventh edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 18 October 1972, to 21 March 1973. It was contested by 26 teams, five more than in the previous edition.^[1]

1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
League	FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
Sport	Basketball
Finals
Champions	Spartak Leningrad
Runners-up	Jugoplastika

1971 runner-up Spartak Leningrad, defeated Jugoplastika in the final, to become the first Soviet League team to win the competition, ending a 3-year period of Italian League dominance.^[2] It was the second straight final lost by a Yugoslav League team.

Participants

Country Teams Clubs Albania 1 Vllaznia Austria 1 Mounier Wels Belgium 1 Racing Antwerpen Bulgaria 1 Levski-Spartak Czechoslovakia 1 Spartak ZJŠ Brno England 1 Sutton & Crystal Palace Finland 1 NMKY Helsinki  France 1 Olympique Antibes Greece 1 Olympiacos Hungary 1 Csepel Iceland 1 KR Israel 1 Maccabi Ramat Gan Italy 1 Mobilquattro Milano Luxembourg 1 Sparta Bertrange Morocco 1 WAC Netherlands 1 Raak Punch Poland 1 Śląsk Wrocław Portugal 1 Benfica Romania 1 Steaua București Soviet Union 1 Spartak Leningrad Spain 1 Juventud Schweppes Sweden 1 Solna Switzerland 1 Union Neuchâtel Turkey 1 Galatasaray West Germany 1 Gießen 46ers Yugoslavia 1 Jugoplastika

First round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Vllaznia	111–124	Galatasaray	57–64	54–60
WAC	124–206	Mounier Wels	66–99	58–107
Sutton & Crystal Palace	147–154	Benfica	76–77	71–77

Second round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Galatasaray	121–152	Śląsk Wrocław	55–73	66–79
Mobilquattro Milano	193–114	Union Neuchâtel	100–62	84–52
Raak Punch	165–175	Olympiacos	88–68	77–107
Spartak ZJŠ Brno	189–156	Mounier Wels	107–73	82–83
Solna	188–150	NMKY Helsinki	93–61	95–89
Csepel	116–165	Olympique Antibes	55–81	61–84
Sparta Bertrange	121–187	Juventud Schweppes	63–92	58–95
KR	107–229	Gießen 46ers	56–127	51–102
Levski-Spartak	141–144	Jugoplastika	70–65	71–79
Benfica	166–203	Racing Antwerpen	86–83	80–120
Maccabi Ramat Gan	150–153	Steaua București	83–72	67–81

Automatically qualified to the eighth finals

• Spartak Leningrad

Top 12

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Śląsk Wrocław	139–145	Mobilquattro Milano	69–60	70–85
Olympiacos	161–170	Spartak ZJŠ Brno	87–94	74–76
Solna	131–219	Spartak Leningrad	67–115	64–104
Olympique Antibes	139–149	Juventud Schweppes	67–71	72–78
Gießen 46ers	166–191	Jugoplastika	84–99	82–92
Racing Antwerpen	150–152	Steaua București	80–76	70–76

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 Mobilquattro Milano – Spartak ZJŠ Brno 109-83 75-79 184-162 Spartak Leningrad – Mobilquattro Milano 72-57 54-59 126-116 Spartak ZJŠ Brno – Spartak Leningrad 74-82 77-82 151-164 Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1. Spartak Leningrad 2 4 2 0 290 267 +23 2. Mobilquattro Milano 2 3 1 1 300 288 +12 3. Spartak ZJŠ Brno 2 2 0 2 313 348 -35

Group B 1st leg 2nd leg Agg Jugoplastika – Juventud Schweppes 90-71 62-76 152-147 Steaua București – Jugoplastika 87-80 61-82 148-162 Juventud Schweppes – Steaua București 77-81 72-65 149-146 Team Pld Pts W L PF PA PD 1. Jugoplastika 2 4 2 0 314 295 +19 2. Juventud Schweppes 2 3 1 1 296 298 -2 3. Steaua București 2 2 0 2 294 311 -17

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Spartak Leningrad	152–118	Juventud Schweppes	95–64	57–54
Jugoplastika	178–161	Mobilquattro Milano	96–81	82–70

Final

March 20, Alexandreio Melathron, Thessaloniki

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Spartak Leningrad	77–62	Jugoplastika

1972–73 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Champions
Spartak Leningrad 1st title