KCC Egis punches ticket to BCL Asia 2024 by winning historic KBL title

BUSAN (Korea) - KCC Egis secure their ticket to Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) 2024 after winning the Korean Basketball League (KBL) Finals 2023-2024.

It will be the second time KCC Egis plays in FIBA Asia's flagship club competition, the last time being in 1998. Known as Daejeon Hyundau Dynat at the time, the team finished in 4th place in the final standings in the debut.

KCC Egis closed out the Best-of-Seven series 4-1 with an 88-70 win over Suwon KT Supersonic. The champions lost their only game in the Finals in Game 2, 101-97, while Games 3 and 4 were decided by no more than 6 points in this intense championship series.

This is Egis' sixth KBL championship in total and their first since 2011. Moreover, it is the first time in KBL history that a team that finished fifth place in the regular season, completed the season as champions.

Egis wrapped up the regular season - their first after relocating from Jeonju to Busan - with a 30-24 record. After taking down Seoul SK Knights in the Semi-Finals, they proceeded to eliminate league leaders and owners of a 41-13 record, Wonju DB Promy, to make it to the Finals.

The MVP of the Playoffs was awarded to Egis' superstar, Heo Ung, after averaging 18.8 points and 5.4 assists per game in the Finals.

Heo winning the Playoffs MVP is 26 years after his father, the legendary Hur Jae, won Playoffs MVP in the 1997-98 season. Coincidentally, Egis also won the title that season as well and earned their spot in BCL Asia (then branded as the ABC Champions Cup) - though Hur Jae won his MVP trophy as a player on the side that lost in the Finals series, Busan Kia Enterprise.

Despite having to overcome an underdog storyline through the regular season, KCC Egis' squad is a strong one. Aside from the MVP Heo Ung, they also have the services of known and proven stars such as Ra GunA, Choi JunYong, Lee SeoungHyun, and Song KyoChang. Ra has experience playing in BCL Asia, suiting up for Hyundai Mobis back in 2019, while the named quintet have been considered key pieces of the Korea national team in recent years.

The inaugural BCL Asia 2024 will be played from June 9-15. It was announced to be hosted in Dubai, UAE after an agreement between FIBA Regional Office - Asia and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.

FIBA