In 1980 the final of the Korac was held in Liege, where Rieti overcame Cibona (76-71) to end a four-year streak of Balkan dominance in the competition

Semi-finals
Hapoel Tel Aviv – Cibona
Rieti – Jugoplastika

After four seasons of Yugoslavian domination in the Korać Cup, Arrigoni de Rieti managed to break this winning streak in their second consecutive final. The Italians were beaten by Partizan the previous year, but this time they managed to beat the difficult Cibona Zagreb team. Despite the fact that Arrigoni were below the score for much of the match, after managing to draw at 65 (min. 37) they took control of the game and did not give up until the end. The agile American pivot Lee Johnson, a man as spectacular as irregular, gave this time the lime and became the star of the game, with the team leader, Brunamonti, seconding him. On the other hand the Cibona, a young and very high team -six players surpass the two meters-, had its better elements in Nakić and Aleksandar Petrović.

Rieti 76
*Brunamonti – 13p
*Sanesi – 2p
*Danzi – 12p
*Sojourner – 13p
*Johnson – 28p
Scodavolpe – 8p

Cibona 71
*Pavlicevic – 6p
*A.Petrovic – 17p
*Nakic – 21p
*Despot – 8p
*Knego – 17p
Usic – 2p