Laso happy as Real Madrid wins basketball crown

MADRID, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid claimed the Spanish Endesa ACB Basketball league title late on Wednesday night, beating Regal Barcelona 79-71 in the fifth game of the best of five final series.

The victory in front of Real Madrid's home fans gave the side coached by Pablo Laso a deserved win in a series which had swung in favor of both sides over the past week and a half, but it would be hard to begrudge Madrid their success after they had shown themselves to be superior to Barca over the course of the season.

As well as finishing top of the ACB league table in the regular season, Real Madrid also defeated Barca in the Copa del Rey knockout tournament, which they also won this campaign. Real Madrid also beat their rivals in the semi-finals of the EuroLeague Final Four, which was held in London earlier this year.

It is Real Madrid's 31st league title, but perhaps serves to show how both clubs, who also finished first and second in the BBVA Primera Liga with their football teams dominate Spanish sport, especially now in the economic crisis when their rivals are quite simply unable to compete with their elevated budgets.

The win is a personal triumph for Laso, who last left San Sebastian based, Lagun Aro in order to take on the challenge at Real Madrid and who has been able to bring the best out of side which contains Spain international players such as Felipe Reyes, who was named as the MVP of the final series, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Rodriguez and Sergi Lluch, all of whom will almost certainly be included in the Spain squad for the forthcoming European Championships in which the Spanish will defend their crown as the best side in Europe.

"We have had some tough nights this season ad we have also had some good ones, but we have learned from all of them and we will continue to learn," said Laso after the match, before putting the triumph down to his players' spirit.

"It is their hunger and their will to learn that is decisive to grown both as individual players and also as a team. I am really happy for them because they have all worked really hard. This is the perfect end to the season and it is perfect to be able to win in front of our home crowd and with a great atmosphere in the stands," said the Real Madrid coach.

We recommend:
Top 10 rarest albino animals in the world	Seven most amazing lakes in New Zealand	Most beautiful Chinese celebs
Sexy photos of Chinese diving show stars	Top 10 special 'small' countries	Lin Chi-ling promotes online game
World's most extravagant mobile home	Joe Chen covers Modern Lady	Fans at FIFA's Confederations Cup