London Lions saw their historic EuroCup run come to an end after a valiant effort in Spain last night.

The London-based side lost 89-78 in a hard-fought last-16 clash with Spanish giants Club Joventut Badalona, but by reaching the play-off stages had ventured where no UK team had gone before them.

Joventut represented maybe their toughest test to date, being previous champions of both the EuroCup and prestigious EuroLeague, as well as being one of only two teams to never have been relegated from the top flight of Spanish basketball alongside Real Madrid. 

Badalona opened the scoring with three back-to-back three-pointers to gain a lead of nine in the first quarter and led throughout the rest of the tie.

However, the Lions managed to fight back from being 16 points (39-23) behind in the first half to start the last quarter just trailing by six (64-58). 

The Spanish side were led by Ante Tomic with 19 points, whereas the Lions were given hope by the likes of Tomislav Zubic, who had 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Aaron Best, who scored 18 points, hitting 83.3% of two-point attempts.

Jordan Taylor weighed in with 14 points, three rebounds, two steals and one assist during his 28 minutes on court for Lions, who host Newcastle Eagles in the BBL at the Copper Box Arena on Sunday (2.30pm).

This marks the end of one of the most significant runs in British basketball history in which the Lions have broken a host of records. 

From being the first UK side to participate in the competition since 2007, to becoming the first to record a win since 2004 and finally being the first ever to reach the knockout stages, Lions have been impressing domestically too having already won the BBL Championship with a record six games to spare. 

The club has been on an upwards trajectory since being bought by 777 Partners in 2020, and excitement surrounding the sport as a whole in the UK is building. 

Record crowds have descended upon BBL games this season and the Lions have also experienced exponential growth in terms of their viewership figures on BT Sport for their EuroCup campaign. 

It is hoped their incredible EuroCup performance this season may be the catalyst to help drive the sport to the next level in the UK. 

The appetite for basketball in the UK is evident, but although it is estimated that 1.3 million people play basketball on a regular basis in the UK, with the sport boasting the highest percentage of players from a non-white British background (47%), basketball still ranks 12th for grassroots funding over the last decade. 

Serving as the nation's second most popular team sport after football, the level of government funding it receives indicates a strong disparity between its social value and the corresponding level of monetary backing. However, with a new injection of private funding and excitement surrounding the sport in the UK, the glory days of the 90s might not be so far away.