The Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol[1][2] (abbreviated as LUB; English: Uruguayan Basketball League) is the most important professional club basketball league in Uruguay. It is organized by the Uruguayan Basketball Federation (FUBB). The Uruguayan Basketball League competition began in 2003. Before that time, the Uruguayan basketball championships were only local metropolitan, and no competitions brought together all the clubs in the country. Until the Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol was created, the capital clubs participated in the Campeonato Uruguayo Federal de Básquetbol (Uruguayan Federal Basketball Championship), while the clubs of the rest of the country competed in regional tournaments. The Uruguayan Federal Basketball Championship was founded in 1915, making it among the oldest on the continent.

The first LUB competition had a dramatic end, with a win in the last second, that brought the Uruguayan League title to Defensor Sporting, whom also repeated in the 2009–10 season. So far, Defensor Sporting will be the only one to appear in all of the league's seasons, after the relegation of Trouville in the 2024–25 season.[3]

Format

Trophies of the Uruguayan Basketball League.

The LUB is currently played in four stages: Torneo Clasificatorio (Qualifying Tournament), Fase Campeonato (Championship Phase) or Reclasificatorio (Requalifier), play-in and play-off.

  • In the Qualifying Tournament, the metropolitan clubs play each other twice, home and away, and the first six of the table play in the Championship Phase, where all is guaranteed to participate in the playoffs. The last six play the Requalifier.
  • The Championship Phase is contested by six teams. The clubs play each other once, where home-field advantage will be won in the head-to-head of the Qualifier. It only serves to organize the positions for playoffs.
  • The Requalifier was contested by six teams also. The clubs play each other once, where home-field advantage will be won in the head-to-head of the Qualifier. The last two are relegated to the Second Division, to participate in the Liga de Ascenso and the top four advance to the first round of play-in. The winners play against the finalists of OBL (a tournament with the top-two teams of Paysandú, Salto and Soriano regional leagues).
  • The play-in consist of two rounds, with series being best of three series. The first stage is played as: A) 1st of Requalifier vs. 4th of Requalifier, B) 2nd of Requalifier vs. 3rd of Requalifier. The second stage pairings are: C) 1st of OBL vs. B) Winner, D) 2nd of OBL vs. A) Winner.
  • Finally, teams competed in the playoffs, with series being best of five. The first stage was the quarterfinals. The qualifiers are played as: E) 1st vs. D) Winner, F) 2nd vs. C) Winner, G) 3rd vs. 6th and H) 4th vs. 5th. The semifinal pairings were: E) Winner vs. H) Winner and F) Winner vs. G) Winner. The winners of these matches played in the finals in best-of-seven serie, with the winner being crowned as the league champions of the LUB.
  • The finalists will play the BCL Americas and the losers of the semifinals, the Liga Sudamericana de Baloncesto.

Participating teams

Defensor Sporting and Trouville are the teams with the most league appearances, having so far competed in every season of the LUB.

2024–25 season teams

Notes: All statistics are only for the Uruguayan Basketball League (Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol), which is organized by the Uruguayan Basketball Federation (Federación Uruguaya de Basketball). Uruguayan Federal tournaments are not included. The "arena" column reflects the arena where the team plays most of its home games, but does not indicate that the team in question is the owner.

Club City Arena Capacity Foundation Seasons Championships
Aguada Montevideo Estadio Propio Aguatero 3,738 1922 21 4
Biguá Gimnasio Biguá de Villa Biarritz[4] 1,200 1931 21 4
Cordón Gimnasio Julio C. Zito Barrella 710 1944 12 0
Defensor Sporting Gimnasio Óscar Magurno[5] 800 1910 22 2
Ferro Carril Salto Polideportivo 1° de Diciembre de 1912 3,000 1912 3 0
Hebraica Macabi Montevideo Gimnasio Unión Atlética[4][6] 750 1939 17 4
Malvín Gimnasio Juan Francisco Canil 900 1938 21 5
Nacional Polideportivo del Gran Parque Central 800 1899 10 0
Peñarol Estadio Cr. Gastón Güelfi 4,700 1891 5 0
Remeros Mercedes Gimnasio Agrimensor Mario Eduardo Bellini 400 1925 3 0
Trouville Montevideo Gimnasio Trouville[4] 780 1922 22 1
Urunday Universitario Gimnasio Urunday Universitario[4] 700 1931 8 0
Urupan Pando Gimnasio Santiago A. Cigliuti 700 1924 5 0
Welcome Montevideo Gimnasio Óscar Magurno 900 1926 12 0

Champions by season

The Uruguayan Basketball League competition began in 2003. Before that time, the Uruguayan Federal Championships were only local, and no competition brought together all the clubs in the country.

Season Champion Result Runner-up Champion Coach
2003 Defensor Sporting 3–2 Paysandú Uruguay Gerardo Jauri
2004–05 Salto Uruguay 3–1 Paysandú Uruguay Javier Espíndola
2005–06 Trouville 3–0 Aguada Uruguay Alejandro González
2006–07 Malvín 3–1 Biguá Uruguay Pablo López
2007–08 Biguá 3–0 Hebraica Macabi Uruguay Marcelo Signorelli
2008–09 Biguá 3–0 Defensor Sporting Argentina Che García
2009–10 Defensor Sporting 3–0 Malvín Uruguay Gerardo Jauri
2010–11 Malvín 3–1 Biguá Uruguay Pablo López
2011–12 Hebraica Macabi 3–2 Malvín Uruguay Marcelo Signorelli
2012–13 Aguada 4–3 Defensor Sporting Uruguay Javier Espíndola
2013–14 Malvín 4–1 Defensor Sporting Uruguay Pablo López
2014–15 Malvín 4–1 Trouville Uruguay Pablo López
2015–16 Hebraica Macabi 4–2 Defensor Sporting Uruguay Leonardo Zylbersztein
2016–17 Hebraica Macabi 4–3 Aguada Uruguay Leonardo Zylbersztein
2017–18 Malvín 4–3 Aguada Uruguay Pablo López
2018–19 Aguada 4–3 Malvín Uruguay Miguel Volcan
2019–20 Aguada 3–1 Trouville Argentina Adrián Capelli
2021 Biguá 3–2 Nacional Argentina Hernán Laginestra
Biguá
4–1
Peñarol Uruguay Diego Cal
Hebraica Macabi
4–2
Nacional Uruguay Leonardo Zylbersztein
Aguada
4–1
Peñarol Uruguay Germán Cortizas

Total LUB titles by club

Club Championships Runners-up Year(s) won
Malvín 5 3 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018
Aguada 4 3 2013, 2019, 2020, 2024
Biguá 4 2 2008, 2009, 2021, 2022
Hebraica Macabi 4 1 2012, 2016, 2017, 2023
Defensor Sporting 2 4 2003, 2010
Trouville 1 2 2006
Salto Uruguay 1 0 2005
Peñarol 0 2
Nacional 0 2
Paysandú 0 2

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ "Competitions". fubb.org.uy (in Spanish). Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "Uruguay tiene todo listo para atravesar la etapa más importante de la Liga Uruguaya de Basquetbol". fiba.basketball. FIBA. March 26, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "Descendió Trouville: dio batalla de visitante, pero perdió ante Urupan y bajó con tres fechas por jugar". www.elpais.com.uy. El País. March 11, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Since these venues do not have an official name, they are mentioned as Gimnasio (Stadium) "club name".
  5. ^ Defensor's venue was not authorized to host home games, so they played in the Welcome's court.
  6. ^ Hebraica's venue was not authorized to host home games, so they played in the Unión Atlética's court.
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