Greek B Basketball League

Greek B Basketball League

Current season, competition or edition: 2015–16 Greek B Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1973
No. of teams	31
Country	Greece
Continent	Europe
Most recent champion(s)	Kymi Promitheas Patras
Level on pyramid	3rd Tier (Greece)
Promotion to	Greek A2 Basket League
Relegation to	Greek C Basket League
Official website	basket.gr

The Greek B Basketball League, or Greek B Basket League (Greek: Ελληνικό Β Μπαςκετ Λιγκ), is a national semi-professional basketball league in Greece. It is also known as the Second National Championship, B National Championship, Second National League, B National League, and in Greek, (Βήτα Εθνική καλαθοσφαίρισης) (Beta Ethniki Basketball).

It is the 3rd-tier of the basketball league system in Greece, and was founded in 1973. The Greek B Basket League was originally held in two groups. From 1986 to 2012, the league was held in one only group, and since 2013, the league is held again in two groups. The current champions are Kymi and Promitheas Patras.^[1] In the current league, a total of 31 clubs take part, which are separated into two groups that are based on geographical criteria.

Champions

First Two groups period

Season	1st Group	2nd Group
1973–74	Panionios	Dimokritos Thessaloniki
1974–75	Ionikos Nikaias	Iraklis
1975–76	Apollon Patras	Dimokritos Thessaloniki
1976–77	Maroussi	YMCA Thessaloniki
1977–78	Esperos	Iraklis
1978–79	Apollon Patras	VAO
1979–80	Esperos	Gymnastikos S. Larissas
1980–81	Panionios	VAO
1981–82	Esperos	Pierikos
1982–83	Peristeri	VAO
1983–84	Sporting	Niki Volos

Four Groups period

Season	1st Group	2nd Group	3rd Group	4th Group
1984–85	Ilysiakos	Near East	MENT	Thyella Serron
1985–86	Ilysiakos	Milon	Philippos Thessaloniki	PAO Dioikitiriou

One group period

Season Winner 1986–87 Esperos 1987–88 Proteas Athens 1988–89 Papagou 1989–90 Nestor Thessaloniki 1990–91 MENT 1991–92 Irakleio 1992–93 Ampelokipoi 1993–94 Ionikos NF 1994–95 Near East 1995–96 Olympia Larissa 1996–97 Makedonikos 1997–98 Arion Athens 1998–99 KAOD

Season Winner 1999–00 Aias Evosmou 2000–01 Chalkida 2001–02 Ilysiakos 2002–03 Xanthi 2003–04 Egaleo 2004–05 Rethymno 2005–06 Paleo Faliro 2006–07 Peristeri 2007–08 Near East 2008–09 Amyntas Athens 2009–10 Lavrio 2010–11 OFI Crete 2011–12 Aiolos Trikalon

Two groups period

Season	1st Group	2nd Group
2012–13	Psychiko	Filippos Verias
2013–14	Aetos	Doxa Lefkadas
2014–15	Kymi	Promitheas Patras

Current clubs

First Group

The first group comprises 16 teams, with most of them being based in the suburbs of Athens.^[2]

Athens

Irakleio
Ergotelis

Panelefsiniakos

Koropi

Esperos

Promitheas

Athens teams Niki Amarousiou
Enosi Iliou
Panionios
Ikaros
Papagou
Cholargos
Amyntas
Filathlitikos
Koronos Agiou Dimitriou
Ionikos Nikaias

Location of teams in Greek B Basket League 2015–16

Club	Home city
Ergotelis	Irakleio
Niki Amarousiou	Maroussi, Athens
Ikaros Nea Smyrnis	Nea Smyrni, Athens
Koropi	Koropi
Enosi Iliou	Ilion, Athens
Esperos AOPA	Patras
Panelefsiniakos	Eleusis
Irakleio	Irakleio
Promitheas Chalkis	Chalkis
Panionios	Nea Smyrni, Athens
Filathlitikos	Zografou, Athens
Papagou	Papagou
Cholargos	Cholargos, Athens
Amyntas	Dafni, Athens
Kronos Agiou Dimitriou	Agios Dimitrios, Athens
Ionikos Nikaias	Nikaia, Piraeus

Second Group

The second group originally comprised 16 teams,^[3] but Evropi Pefkohoriou was promoted to the A2, replacing Panionios.^[4] KAOD, which would replace Evropi Pefkohoriou, was withdrawn from national divisions. So the group remained with 15 teams.^[5]

Thessaloniki

Ermis

Polygyros

Stratoni

Kastoria

Titanes

Argos

Agriniou

Pierikos

Aiolos

AEL 1964
Gymnastikos

Thessaloniki teams SAAK Anatolia
EAK Thessaloniki
Ionikos Ionias
Efkarpia

Location of teams in Greek B Basket League 2015–16

Club	Home city
Pierikos-Archelaos	Katerini
Ermis Lagkada	Langadas
Ionikos Ionias	Diavata
Gymnastikos S. Larissas	Larissa
Efkarpia	Efkarpia
Stratoni	Stratoni
Titanes Palama	Palamas
Polygiros	Polygyros
Aiolos Astakou	Astakos
SAAK Anatolia	Thessaloniki
EAK Thessaloniki	Thessaloniki
AEL 1964	Larissa
Argos Orestiko	Argos Orestiko
Agriniou	Agrinio
Kastoria	Kastoria

References

1. "Ανέβηκε ο Προμηθέας, έπεσε η Αγ. Παρασκευή". sport24.gr. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
2. "Πρόγραμμα Β΄Εθνικής". infobasket.gr. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
3. "Το πρόγραμμα στον Βορρά της Β’ Εθνικής". gazzetta.gr. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
4. "Ο ΑΣ Πευκοχωρίου στην Α2". sport24.gr. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
5. "Επίσημα στα τοπικά ο ΚΑΟΔ". sport24.gr. Retrieved 5 October 2015.

External links

• Greek Basketball Federation, Beta Ethniki (Greek)
• Eurobasket.com Greek B Basket League