AEL are the 2004 Cyprus Champions

Like last year, the play-off finals began with Keravnos having the home advantage. The first game of the series was very tight with the Nicosia team managing a 99:96 win. The second game was held in front of a capacity crowd in Lemesos and EKA AEL were unstoppable offensively. They crushed Keravnos 103:70.

The third game proved to be the most significant of the series. EKA AEL travelled to Nicosia knowing that an away win would almost certainly guarantee the second successive championship. The Lemesos team once again rose to the occasion and played attractive basketball. The final score was 96:110 for EKA AEL. The 2003 FIBA Regional Challenge Champions were 1 win away from completing a famous treble in Cyprus, having already won
the Cup as well as the Super Cup.

The final game of the Cyprus play-offs, as it proved to be, took place in Lemesos on Friday, April 16. All 3.000 tickets for the game were sold-out several days in advance. Keravnos performed very well on the day but it was EKA AEL who controlled the game with the trademark half-court press defense. Duane Woodward of EKA AEL, the leading scorer of the FIBA Europe League, was the MVP of the game and managed 23 points. EKA AEL won by 77:64, completed 3 wins over Keravnos and were crowned Cyprus Champions for the year 2004.

The scenes that followed the game in Lemesos were phenomenal. The basketball team and several thousand fans celebrated the acievement until the early hours of the morning.

Dragan Raca who took over as head coach of EKA AEL two years ago and completely transformed the team, said to eka-ael.com:

"I am extremely happy for my team. The players worked very hard throughout the year and deserved the championship. A very big thank you goes to our fans. Few basketball teams in Europe have such supporters both in terms of quantity and quality. We have a duty to them to continue building a team that will become a very strong European contender."

Michael Loizidis, chairman of EKA AEL, said to eka-ael.com:

"After winning the FIBA Regional Challenge Cup in 2003, our goals and expectations for 2004 were raised. Our target was to win all three domestic competitions and to progress to the final 16 of the FEL. We have achieved all of our goals because the team spirit was excellent and the confidence very high. We have already started planning for the next season and our goal would be to progress even further in Europe and to defend all the domestic trophies."