And 12 points goes to.. Austria. Welcome, HEFTE HELFEN BULLS!

A seven time national champion – HEFTE HELFEN BULLS – is the first team from Austria to play in the European North Basketball league.

Alpine countries are known for excellence in winter sports.

Austria and Switzerland co-hosted UEFA EURO 2008.

Recently they are making strides in basketball, too.

Austria men won the 2024 FIBA 3x3 Europe Cup in Vienna.

Jakob Poeltl was selected with the 9th pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.

Austrian big man played two seasons with the Raptors (2016-2018) and five seasons with the San Antonio Spurs (2018-2023) before returning to Canada in 2023.

He started his career at the Traiskirchen Lions (2013-2014) and then played two seasons for the NCAA Division One team Utah Utes.

Austrian Basketball Bundesliga – the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga or ÖBL – was founded in 1947 and re-branded to Austrian Basketball Superliga in 2019.

Administrated by Basketball Austria, it features 10 teams with TV partners Sky Sport and ORF.

HEFTE HELFEN BULLS – formerly known as the Kapfenberg Bulls – were founded in 1976.

Bulls have played in the ÖBL from 1991, and then in the Austrian Basketball Superliga from 2019.

Kapfenberg Bulls have won seven Austria championships in 2001-2004 and 2017-2019.

The Bulls have reached finals in 2014 and 2021.

Trophy case includes six Austrian Cups (2007, 2014, 2017-2020) and five Austrian Supercups (2002, 2003, 2014, 2017, 2018).

The Bulls entered FIBA Korač Cup in the autumn of 2000 and faced Slovan Ljubljana in the first qualifying round.

Fresh off their first three-peat, the Bulls joined the 2003-2004 ULEB Cup.

They played their first regular season against teams like Lleida and Gran Canaria from Spain, RheinEnergy Köln from Germany, Zadar from Croatia and Atlas Belgrade from Serbia.

A year later Bulls returned to competition and, among others, faced the Bamberg Baskets.

Kapfenberg Bulls entered the short lived Central European Basketball league in 2008.

The Bulls won the Group C with a 6-0 record, defeating BK Opava from Czechia, Inter Bratislava and MBK Handlova from Slovakia.

Austrian team advanced to the inaugural Final Four in Timisoara, Romania, and earned a bronze medal.

The Bulls debuted at the Basketball Champions league qualifiers in September 2017, meeting with the Benfica Lisbon.

They continued their season at the FIBA Europe Cup.

Kapfenberg Bulls have also played at the Alpe Adria Cup.

They hosted the 2024 AAC Final Four on March 12-13 at the Sporthalle Walfersam.

Sporthalle Walfersam has a capacity of 1000.

Kapfenberg is a city with 22 thousand people in the Austrian southeastern state of Styria, near the eastern Alps.

Driving distance from Kapfenberg to Vienna Airport is 150 kilometers, while Graz airport is 70 kilometers away.

Club's website: www.bulls-basketball.eu