1978–79 Úrvalsdeild karla

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
Teams6
Games played60
Dates14 October 1978 – 29 March 1979
Final positions
ChampionsKR (7th title)
Runners-upValur
RelegatedÞór Akureyri
Awards
Domestic MVP Jón Sigurðsson
Foreign MVP Tim Dwyer
Statistical leaders
Points John Hudson 30.3
Records
Highest scoringValur 143–78 Þór Akureyri
(23 March 1979)
← 1977–78

Competition format

The 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
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:

Notable occurrences
  • 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
  1. "Þetta var stórkostlegt". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 30 March 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  2. "Allt logaði í slagsmálum, heift og æsingi er Valur vann UMFN". Dagblaðið (in Icelandic). 20 March 1979. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  3. Kristjánsson, Gylfi (20 March 1979). "Hnefarnir voru á lofti í Höllinni". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 5. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  4. Kristjánsson, Gylfi (30 March 1979). "Dæmdir í leikbann og þungar fjársektir!". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 4. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  5. "Valsmenn settu stigamet". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 24 March 1979. p. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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