'A vindication and the dawn of a new era': Vaughn Millette and Yuri Matischen hail Sheffield Sharks' SLB Cup final win

For club founder Yuri Matischen, the 105-97 victory in Nottingham in front of 3,000 or so travelling fans was a vindication for the years of hard work by him and his staff to keep the team competitive while focusing on the building of their own arena.

For Vaughn Millette, the American entrepreneur who became principal shareholder of the Sharks last summer, it was just the latest moment that justified his decision to invest in the club and British basketball in the first place.

Neither could have done it without the other, or the many people behind the scenes led by chief executive officer Sarah Backovic, and both were in agreement that this could be the start of something special for a club that was a byword for winning in its first two decades of existence.

“Feels really good, it’s kind of a vindication of the build, the arena, the investor,” said Matischen, whose club won 14 trophies up until 2016 before nine barren years.

“On top of that our Division Three team won their league on Saturday night, and the women’s team (Hatters) are here in their final as well. To win this one just shows the growth and the momentum. What a great game it was as well. Surrey did really well too. And it’s great to see Atiba (Lyons) win again.”

With the foundations in place, Matischen firmly believes the only way is up for a club that if the league’s wrangle with the British Basketball Federation is resolved swiftly and peacefully, will explore playing in European competition next season.

“From here we’re only going forward,” said Matischen from courtside at the Motorpoint Arena on Sunday as the celebrations raged on.

“There’s so many youngsters just wanting to play. We’ve started our academy, people are wanting to join the club.

“We’ve always been there or thereabouts and it’s amazing what little things spark the next generation of success. Now we’ve got it, we want to maintain all the ingredients to make sure it’s a 10-year cycle and we keep going forward.

“We’ll have highs and lows along the way but if we keep our hard work consistent then this sport is only growing and our club is growing with it.

“Vaughn has come in and been a great supporter, there’s a great backroom team, fantastic coaching staff. He wants to get into Europe, we’ve just got to see if we can put all the infrastructure in place in time.”

Millette, who had flown in from New York to see both the Sharks and Hatters in their respective SLB Cup finals, added: “I have envisioned this moment and it’s so good to see the guys pull it off. So proud.

“It’s the family atmosphere at this club that is so special, this is a group of guys you can really care about, Sarah (Backovic), Atiba, everybody. So good to see it all come to fruition.

“And for these fans as well, what a turnout from them, they’re the best.”

Asked if this could be the start of a new golden era, Millette replied: “Let’s hope so, we’re going to do our best.”