The 1978–79 Úrvalsdeild karla was the 28th season of the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier men's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on 14 October 1978 and ended on 29 March 1979. KR won its 7th title by posting the best record in the league. It secured the title by beating Valur, 77–75, in the last game of the season.[1]
| Úrvalsdeild karla | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duration | 14 October 1978 – 29 March 1979 | |||
| Games played | 60 | |||
| Teams | 6 | |||
| Regular season | ||||
| Relegated | Þór Akureyri | |||
| Finals | ||||
| Champions | KR (7th title) | |||
| Runners-up | Valur | |||
| Awards | ||||
| Domestic MVP |  Jón Sigurðsson | |||
| Foreign MVP |  Tim Dwyer | |||
| Statistical leaders | ||||
| ||||
| Records | ||||
| Highest scoring | Valur 143–78 Þór Akureyri (23 March 1979) | |||
← 1977–78 1979–80 → | ||||
Competition format
editThe participating teams first played a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent twice "home" and twice "away" for a total of 20 games. The top team won the national championship whilst the bottom team was relegated to Division I.
Regular season
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KR | 20 | 15 | 5 | 1856 | 1645 | +211 | 30 | Champion |
| 2 | Valur | 20 | 14 | 6 | 1792 | 1697 | +95 | 28 | |
| 3 | Njarðvík | 20 | 13 | 7 | 2026 | 1846 | +180 | 26 | |
| 4 | ÍR | 20 | 9 | 11 | 1775 | 1764 | +11 | 18 | |
| 5 | ÍS | 20 | 6 | 14 | 1718 | 1833 | −115 | 12 | |
| 6 | Þór Akureyri | 20 | 3 | 17 | 1635 | 2017 | −382 | 6 | Relegated |
Source: [1]
Notable occurrences
edit- On 19 March, fights broke out during Valur's 92–79 victory against Njarðvík. A Njarðvík's official, Kristbjörn Albertsson, was tossed from the game after running onto the court to challenge the referees following Valur's Tim Dwyer elbow to Njarðvík's Árni Lársson head. After the game ended, fights broke out in the stands and spilled out to the court. Fans and Njarðvík's officials harassed the referees, ending with referee Þráinn Skúlason being hit in the head.[2][3] In the aftermath, Njarðvík's coach Hilmar Hafsteinsson was suspended for 4 games while player Ted Bee received a 1-game suspension. Njarðvík was furthermore fined 20.000 ISK.[4]
- On 23 March, Valur set a new league scoring record in its 143–78 victory against Þór Akureyri.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Þetta var stórkostlegt". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 30 March 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Allt logaði í slagsmálum, heift og æsingi er Valur vann UMFN". Dagblaðið (in Icelandic). 20 March 1979. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Kristjánsson, Gylfi (20 March 1979). "Hnefarnir voru á lofti í Höllinni". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 5. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ Kristjánsson, Gylfi (30 March 1979). "Dæmdir í leikbann og þungar fjársektir!". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 4. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
- ^ "Valsmenn settu stigamet". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 24 March 1979. p. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2019.