1979–80 Úrvalsdeild karla

The 1979–80 Úrvalsdeild karla was the 29th season of the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier men's basketball league on Iceland. The season started on October 13, 1979 and ended on March 17, 1980. Valur won its first title by posting the best record in the league with a win against KR in the last day of the season.[1]

Úrvalsdeild karla
DurationOctober 13, 1979 – March 17, 1980
Number of games60
Number of teams6
Regular season
RelegatedFram
Finals
ChampionsValur (1st title)
  Runners-upNjarðvík
Awards
Domestic MVPIceland Guðsteinn Ingimarsson
Foreign MVPUnited States Tim Dwyer
Statistical leaders
Points United States Trent Smock 34.6
1980–81 →

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 Valur 20 16 4 1813 1689 +124 32 Champion
2 Njarðvík 20 15 5 1692 1581 +111 30
3 KR 20 11 9 1672 1608 +64 22
4 ÍR 20 10 10 1813 1833 −20 20
5 ÍS 20 5 15 1699 1815 −116 10
6 Fram 20 3 17 1577 1740 −163 6 Relegated
Source:

Notable occurrences
  • On 17 November, John Johnson set a Úrvalsdeild record when he scored 71 points in Fram's 104-92 victory against ÍS. At the time it was also the most points scored by a player in the country, breaking Danny Shouse's record of 70 points in the annual Reykjavík Basketball Tournament in September 1979.[2] Shouse would break the record later in the year when he scored 100 points in the second-tier Division I.[3][4]
  • On 17 November, Njarvíkur's player Gunnar Þorvarðarson scored a basket as the final buzzer sounded in a game against rivals Valur. Initially referee Sigurður Valur called the basket off while referee Þráinn Skúlason maintained that Gunnar had released the ball before the buzzer sounded. After a 20-minute conversation in a locked room with other game officials it was ruled that the basket was valid, giving Njarðvík á 88-87 victory.[5]

References
  1. "Valur Íslandsmeistari". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). March 18, 1980. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  2. "Johnson var í banastuði". Vísir (in Icelandic). 19 November 1979. p. 19. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  3. "Ruslakjaftur Ívars Websters lykillinn að 100 stiga leik Danny Shouse". Vísir.is. 1 January 2016. Retrieved 2017-07-28. (in Icelandic)
  4. "Hverjir ná í Danny Shouse?". Vísir. 26 February 1980. Retrieved 2017-07-28. (in Icelandic)
  5. "Sigurkarfa Njarðvíkinga dæmd gild eftir tuttugu mínútur". Dagblaðið (in Icelandic). 19 November 1979. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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