An outstanding 2016-17 season sent Morabanc Andorra La Vella into the 7DAYS EuroCup for the first time. Andorra won its first eight home games of the Spanish League season, including triumphs over FC Barcelona Lassa, Unicaja Malaga and Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas, to qualify for the Copa del Rey for the first time in 22 years. Its quarterfinals opponent was mighty Real Madrid, but Andorra seemed to have the game in its hand, leading 75-82 with a couple of minutes left. A three-pointer by Anthony Randolph saw Madrid force overtime, in which Los Blancos prevailed 99-93 despite 27 points from Giorgi Shermadini. Andorra, led by Shermadini, Beqa Burjanadze and Andrew Albicy, stayed strong in the Spanish League and made it to the playoffs with a 16-16 record. Once again, Madrid was its playoffs opponent. Andorra bounced back from a 31-point loss to take Game 2 by the score of 89-77 behind 19 points from Shermadini and force a do-or-die showdown. Once again, Madrid stood in its way to success, but Andorra pleased its fans with an outstanding season... and the best may be yet to come.

EuroCup

Andorra may be a small country, but it has great pride when it comes to its signature basketball team. Morabanc Andorra La Vella was founded in 1970 as Club de Baloncesto Les Escaldes, but in just one year, it became Basquet Club Andorra - its official name for more than four decades. The club started playing in Spanish regional leagues and reached national-level competitions in 1984. In the 1985-86 season, Andorra won the Spanish third division title and was promoted to the second-level competition. Andorra fought for a spot among the Spanish elite for years and it finally broke through in 1992 led by playmaker Sergi Lopez, legendary shooter Josep Maria Margall and scoring machine Ray Smith. A 73-71 win over Caceres on April 14, 1992, gave Andorra the Spanish second division title. The then-called Festina Andorra invested well to avoid relegation problems, inking veteran playmaker Jose Luis Llorente and two strong big men, Piculin Ortiz and Dan Godfread. Coached by Edu Torres, Andorra ranked 12th overall in the 1992-93 season and lost in the playoff eighthfinals against Caja San Fernando. Andorra went on to have a fantastic 1993-94 season, finishing fourth at the end of the regular season with an 18-10 record. Godfread was joined by Andy Toolson, Frankie Solana – who is the team's current sports director - and Quique Villalobos. Ultimately, Coren Orense swept Andorra in the eighthfinals. In 1994-95, Andorra qualified for the Copa del Rey for the first time ever and lost in the quarterfinals against Estudiantes 87-86. Led by Ricky Brown and Conner Henry, Andorra also reached the playoffs as the eighth-ranked team, but was felled by FC Barcelona. That result allowed Andorra to make its debut in European club competitions in the 1995-96 Korac Cup. But that season the team did not advance past the regular season, fell back to the Spanish second division and financial issues forced Andorra to start all the way from the bottom, in the third regional division. By 2009, the team had been promoted enough times to reach the Spanish third division. It went one level up in 2012 and returned to the top Spanish League in 2014, where it has stayed ever since. After a couple of 14th-place finishes, Andorra took a big step forwards in the 2016-17 season, as Giorgi Shermadini, Beqa Burjanadze and Andrew Albicy led Andorra to the Copa del Rey tournament and the Spanish League playoffs. Andorra lost against Real Madrid by a narrow margin in both competitions. The next goal is to put Andorra on the 7DAYS EuroCup map.