In 1998 the Korac final was played between Verona and Red Star. Curiously, neither side were able to win their away game, and the Italians, led by a great Iuzzolino, took the title in the closing stages of the second leg
Quarterfinals
Red Star – Konya
Peristeri – Verona
Cholet – Dijon
Aris Thessaloniki – Rome
Semi-finals
Red Star – Cholet
Verona – Rome
Despite being beaten in the first leg of the final, Mash Verona were able to make the most of their experience to beat Red Star away by a greater margin than the Serbs did in Verona and win the Cup Korać, thus spoiling the party that the local fans thought the return match would be. The Italian team dominated the match from the outset and quickly made up for the deficit in the first leg (14-27, min. 15). However, the entry on track Bolić, Benčić and Stanojević served to achieve a partial 12-1 that allowed the Serbian team to withdraw at halftime with a minimum of three points (29-32), which placed him back ahead on aggregate. At the restart, Mash Verona, playing a more serious and less emotional game than their rivals, once again opened up a significant gap on the score (37-49), which they held until almost the end of the match. The Serbian side only had their chances in the final minute, when a triple from Popović put them seven points behind (64-71) with 14 seconds to go and Keys missed one of the two free throws that followed (64-72), leaving the hosts with a final 12-second attack to tie the game or win the title. However, the triple from Benčić did not go in and Mash Verona became champions of the Korać Cup, although the Italian team could not celebrate the title on the track because a rain of objects caused them to quickly take refuge in the changing rooms.
Verona
*Iuzzolino – 22.5p, 2.0a
*Bullara – 8.5p
*Brown – 5.0p, 4.5br
*Keys – 14.0p, 8.0r
*Gnad – 4.0p, 4.0r
Boni – 8.0p, 7.5r
Della Vecchia – 6.5p, 2.5br
Jerichow – 2.0p, 3.5r
Estrella Roja
*Bolic – 10.0p, 2.5br
*Rakocevic – 11.0p, 2.0r
*Bencic – 6.0p, 3.0r
*Topic – 13.0p, 6.5r
*Stanojevic – 6.5p, 4.0r
Kuzmanovic – 4.5p, 3.0r
Popovic – 14.0p, 2.5r
Miskovic – 3.0p, 1.5r
Topalovic – 1.0p, 3.5r
