# 1999 NEBL Promotion Cup

NEBL Promotion Cup 1999 was the first test run tournament of the North European Basketball League. The tournament was held during the 1998-99 basketball season on 23 January – 5 April 1999. The tournament included 8 teams from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Finland.
BC Žalgiris won the tournament by defeating ASK/Brocēni/LMT in the final. BC Lietuvos rytas finished in third place by defeating Plannja Basket.
The Prize fund for the Final Four competitions equaled $100,000. The winner of the NEBL Promotion Cup was awarded with $45,000 cheque, the other finalist received $25,000, 3rd-place winner - $20,000 and 4th best team got $10,000.

## NEBL Promotion Cup clubs

Domestic league positions after playoffs of the previous season shown in parentheses.
| Country (League) | Teams |
| Estonia (KML) | Kalev Tallinn (1st) |
| Finland (Korisliiga) | TeamWARE ToPo Helsinki (1st) |
| Latvia (LBL) | ASK Brocēni-LMT Rīga (1st) |
| Latvia (LBL) | Ventspils (2nd) |
| Lithuania (LKL) | Žalgiris Kaunas (1st) |
| Lithuania (LKL) | Lietuvos rytas Vilnius (5th) |
| Lithuania (LKL) | Alita Alytus (8th) |
| Sweden (Basketligan) | Plannja Basket Luleå (2nd) |

## Group stage

During the group stage, each team played 10 games. A team faced opponents in own group twice (6 games) and each team from the other group once (4 games).
Key to colors :
* Top two teams in each group advance to Final Four.
Group A
| | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | Diff | LMT | LRY | TOP | ALI |
| 1. | ASK Brocēni-LMT | 10 | 8 | 2 | 963 | 903 | +60 | - | 95-80 | 88-81 | 101-84 |
| 2. | Lietuvos rytas | 10 | 6 | 4 | 934 | 916 | +18 | 120-116 | - | 89-88 | 89-65 |
| 3. | TeamWARE ToPo | 10 | 4 | 6 | 871 | 889 | –18 | 90-92 | 89-92 | - | 91-84 |
| 4. | Alita | 10 | 3 | 7 | 807 | 853 | –46 | 81-93 | 72-97 | 82-87 | - |
Group B
| | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | Diff | ŽAL | PLA | VEN | KAL |
| 1. | Žalgiris | 10 | 10 | 0 | 970 | 748 | +222 | - | 95-72 | 92-88 | 104-71 |
| 2. | Plannja Basket | 10 | 6 | 4 | 878 | 897 | –19 | 80-107 | - | 84 - 77 | 93-80 |
| 3. | Ventspils | 10 | 3 | 7 | 846 | 920 | –74 | 77-103 | 98-83 | - | 79-68 |
| 4. | Kalev | 10 | 0 | 10 | 821 | 964 | –143 | 73-105 | 101-107 | 80-86 | - |
Second round scores :
| | ŽAL | PLA | VEN | KAL |
| LMT | 84-105 | 89-83 | 92-81 | 111-92 |
| LRY | 85-88 | 90-96 | 114-91 | 103-91 |
| TOP | 57-92 | 87-93 | 107-88 | 94-89 |
| ALI | 61-79 | 72-83 | 97-84 | 82-78 |
Source: Worldbasket.com

## Final Four
### Semifinal 1

* 4 April 1999
* Boxscore
| Žalgiris | 103–75 | Lietuvos rytas |
| Scoring by quarter: 25–17, 25–20, 29–14, 24–24 |||
| Pts: Masiulis 15 Rebs: E. Žukauskas 9 Asts: Edney 7 | | Pts: Giedraitis 20 Rebs: Kazlauskas, Šiškauskas 6 Asts: Giedraitis 6 |
* Vilnius Sports Palace, Vilnius Attendance: 800 Referees: Nikolaos Mpotitsis (SWE), Roman Ryzhyk (UKR)

### Semifinal 2

* 4 April 1999
* Boxscore
| Plannja Basket | 81–87 | ASK Brocēni-LMT |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 20–29, 22–21, 16–17 |||
| Pts: Elliott 19 Rebs: Heiden, Banks 9 Asts: Aulander, Heiden, Elliott 4 | | Pts: Holden 21 Rebs: Šneps 9 Asts: Šneps 3 |
* Vilnius Sports Palace, Vilnius Attendance: 800 Referees: Carl Jungebrand (FIN), Romualdas Brazauskas (LTU)

### Third-place game

* 5 April 1999
* Boxscore
| Lietuvos rytas | 95–87 | Plannja Basket |
| Scoring by quarter: 25–17, 20–16, 25–23, 25–31 |||
| Pts: Giedraitis 33 Rebs: Matulis 11 Asts: Jasikevičius 9 | | Pts: Elliott 26 Rebs: Aulander 7 Asts: Aulander 6 |
* Vilnius Sports Palace, Vilnius Attendance: 3,000 Referees: Roman Ryzhyk (UKR), Juris Kokainis (LAT)

### Final

* 5 April 1999
* Boxscore
| ASK Brocēni-LMT | 81–83 | Žalgiris |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–29, 19–16, 18–14, 23–24 |||
| Pts: S. Valters 18 Rebs: Sturm, Šneps 8 Asts: Šneps 4 | | Pts: Edney 21 Rebs: E. Žukauskas 14 Asts: Edney 7 |
* Vilnius Sports Palace, Vilnius Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Carl Jungebrand (FIN), Nikolaos Mpotitsis (SWE)

## Final Standings

| Pos | Team |
| 1. | Žalgiris |
| 2. | ASK Brocēni-LMT |
| 3. | Lietuvos rytas |
| 4. | Plannja Basket |
| 5. | TeamWARE ToPo |
| 6. | Alita |
| 7. | Ventspils |
| 8. | Kalev |

## All-NEBL Team'99

Coaches of all teams, which participated in the 1999 NEBL Promotion Cup, selected All-NEBL Team'99:
All-NEBL Team'99 :
| Player | Team |
| Eric Elliott [pl] (MVP) | Plannja Basket |
| Andrius Giedraitis | Lietuvos rytas |
| Edgars Šneps [lv] | ASK Brocēni-LMT |
| Saulius Štombergas | Žalgiris |
| Eurelijus Žukauskas | Žalgiris |