BC Cherno More

{{short description|Bulgarian basketball club}} {{More footnotes needed|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox Basketball club | color1 = white | color2 = green | name = Cherno More Ticha | nickname = The Sailors ''(Моряците)'' | logo = BC Cherno More logo.png | leagues = [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] | founded = {{Start date and age|1923}} | arena = [[Hristo Borisov Hall]] | capacity = 1,000 | location = [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]], [[Bulgaria]] | president = [[Georgi Ganchev]] | coach = [[Vassil Evtimov]] | championships = '''3''' [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian Leagues]]<br>'''6''' [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cups]]<br>'''1''' [[Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup|Bulgarian Super Cup]] | website = [https://chernomoreticha.com/ chernomoreticha.com] | colors = White & Green | 1_title = Home | 1_body = FFFFFF | 1_pattern_b = _greensides | 1_shorts = FFFFFF | 1_pattern_s = _greensides

|position=''2nd''|current=}}

'''BC Cherno More Ticha''' ({{langx|bg|БК Черно море Тича}}) is a [[Bulgaria]]n professional [[basketball]] club based in [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]]. The last time it won a championship was in 1999.

== Home arenas == Cherno More Ticha plays most of their home games in the [[Hristo Borisov Hall]] sometimes they play at the [[Palace of Culture and Sports|Kongresna Hall]] in their bigger matches.

== History ==

[[Basketball]] in [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] began in 1923 being a part of the Ticha sport club. After the creation of BC Ticha it was created BC Vladislav and BC Diana who are part of the Cherno More sports club. In the period between 1935 until 1944 there was no basketball in [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]]. In 1944 basketball returned to [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]] after the creation of BC Primorets. In 1948 Ticha-Vladislav-Primorets wins 1948 Varna Cup. In 1952 Vladimir Pinzov was hired as the first manager for the club. In 1952 also TVP debuted in the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] finishing firtst from the non-Sofian clubs. Until 1969 Cherno More sometimes played in the first division of Bulgaria but primarily being in the second division. From 1970 until 1982 'the sailors' established themselves in the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian championship]]. In 1975 Cherno More debuted in European competitions playing in the [[FIBA Korać Cup]] eliminating [[Karşıyaka Basket|Karşıyaka]] in the second round 185–173. In the Group Stage Cherno More finished last in a group with [[Bayer Giants Leverkusen|Tus 04 Leverkusen]], [[KK Partizan|Partizan]] and [[Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna|Sinudyne Bologna]]. From 1982 until the end of the century Cherno More had their best period in their history. In 1984 Cherno More for the first time finished third. In 1984 Cherno More again played in the [[FIBA Korać Cup|Korać Cup]] eliminating [[İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K.|İTÜ]] 165–161 in the first round. In the second round they were eliminated against [[BC Budivelnyk|Stroitel Kyiv]] losing 158–174. In 1985 Cherno More won their first [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian Championship]]. In 1985 [[Georgi Glouchkov|Georgi Glushkov]] signed for the [[Phoenix Suns]] who is the first player from Eastern Europe to play in the [[National Basketball Association|NBA]]. In 1985 Cherno More played for the first time in the [[EuroLeague|FIBA European Champions Cup]]. In the first round they eliminated [[AEL Limassol (basketball)|AEL Limassol]] winning 202–113. In the second round they lost to [[BC Žalgiris|Žalgiris]] 222–152. In 1987 Cherno More again participated in the [[FIBA Korać Cup|Korać Cup]] losing in the first round to [[Beşiktaş J.K. (men's basketball)|Beşiktaş]] losing 156–145. From 1990 to 1997 Cherno More lost 4 [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] finals and finished third once. In the [[1996–97 FIBA Korać Cup|1996–97 Korać Cup]] Cherno More won 184–143 against in the qualifying round against [[Omonia B.C.|Omonia]]. In the group stage they finnished fourth in a group with [[Bnei Herzliya]], [[Pallacanestro Varese|Cagiva Varese]] and [[Znicz Pruszków|Mazowszanka]]. In 1998 Cherno More won their first [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] and after 13 years they won the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] against [[WBC Slavia Sofia|Slavia Sofia]] in the final winning 3–1 on aggragate. In 1999 Cherno More again won the [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] and the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] winning in the final 3–2 against [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]]. In 1998 and 1999 Cherno More played in the [[FIBA Saporta Cup]] in 1998 they were knocked out in the group stage finishing fifth out of 6 teams but in 1999 they passed the preliminary round finishing third in their group. Cherno More were knocked out in the round of 32 losing to [[KK Zadar|Zadar]] 133–172. In 2000 Cherno More almost won the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] and the [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] but they lost the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|Bulgarian League]] final against [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski Sofia]] despite that they won the cup. In 2001 Cherno More reached the [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] for the fourth time in a row but they lost the final 92–70 against [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski]]. In the League they finished third. From 2003 until 2008 Cherno More lost 3 Cup finals in 2003, 2005 and 2008. In 2005 they finished third. In 2006 Cherno More lost the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] final against [[PBC Academic|Lukoil Academic]] losing 3–0. In [[2008–09 BIBL season|2008–09]] and in [[2009–10 BIBL season|2009–10]] Cherno More played in the [[Balkan International Basketball League|BIBL]]. In the first season they were knocked out in the quarterfinals against [[KK Rabotnički|Feršped Rabotnički]] losing 139−143. In the second season they reached the semifinals being eliminated by [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski]] losing 91–76. In 2014 Cherno More finished third and lost the cup final against [[BC Levski Sofia|Levski]]. In 2015 Cherno More won the [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] for the first time for 15 years winning against [[PBC Academic|Lukoil Academic]] 69–72. From 2016 until 2024 it was their worst period in their history being one of the worst teams in the [[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]] and not even qualifying for the playoffs in most years. In 2025 Cherno More won the Bulgarian Cup again after 10 years against [[BC Balkan Botevgrad|Balkan Botevgrad]] winning 89–81. In the [[2024–25 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2024–25 season]] Cherno More finished second after losing the final 3–1 in the series against [[BC Rilski Sportist|Rilski Sportist]]. But in the 2025 [[Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup|Bulgarian Super Cup]] 'the sailors' took their revenge against [[BC Rilski Sportist|Rilski]] winning the final 66–84. In 2026 Cherno More again won the [[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]] against [[BC Lokomotiv Plovdiv|Lokomotiv Plovdiv]] winning 88–87.

== Players == {{Basketball roster nationality note}}

=== Current roster === ''As of 23 February 2026''<ref>{{cite web | title = BC Cherno More Roster | url = https://bgbasket.com/bg/team.php?id=7&act=team_home&season= | publisher = bgbasket.com | date = | language = Bulgarian}}</ref> {{Basketball roster header|team=Cherno More Ticha|color1=white|bg1=#008040|color2=black}}

{{player3|pos=PF|num=0|nat=USA|first=Alonzo|last=Gaffney|m=2.07|kgs=91|year=2000|month=01|date=28}} {{player3|pos=SG/SF|num=1|nat=BUL|first=Mihail|last=Moldov|m=1.97|kgs=89|year=2001|month=03|date=13}} {{player3|pos=PG|num=3|nat=GB|first=Jelani|last=Watson-Gayle|m=1.84|kgs=86|year=1998|month=09|date=09}} {{player3|pos=SF|num=5|nat=USA|first=Lamont|last=West|m=2.03|kgs=99|year=1997|month=06|date=02|dab=basketball}} {{player3|pos=PG/SG|num=6|nat=BUL|first=Evgeni|last=Hadzhirusev|m=1.93|kgs=87|year=1995|month=12|date=11}} {{player3|pos=SG/SF|num=7|nat=BUL|first=Vladislav|last=Grozdev|m=1.91|kgs=74|year=2009|month=07|date=08}} {{player3|pos=SG/SF|num=8|nat=BUL|first=Nikolay|last=Stoyanov|m=1.95|kgs=92|year=1994|month=03|date=10|note=C|dab=basketball}} {{player3|pos=G|num=10|nat=BUL|first=Martin|last=Popov|m=1.91|kgs=75|year=2008|month=01|date=19}} {{player3|pos=F|num=13|nat=BUL|first=Marin|last=Marinov|m=2.04|kgs=95|year=2000|month=08|date=09}} {{player3|pos=PF/C|num=15|nat=BUL|first=Tsvetomir|last=Chernokozhev|m=1.95|kgs=85|year=2000|month=06|date=01}} {{player3|pos=SG|num=17|nat=USA|first=Darell|last=Davis|m=1.93|kgs=80|year=1996|month=05|date=09|dab=basketball}} {{player3|pos=C|num=19|nat=BUL|first=Christopher|last=Uzunov|m=2.11|kgs=109|year=2007|month=09|date=26}} {{player3|pos=PF/C|num=21|nat=CRO|nat2=BIH|first=Ivan|last=Karačić|m=2.04|kgs=93|year=1996|month=02|date=20|dab=basketball}} {{player3|pos=SG|num=23|nat=BUL|first=Stanislav|last=Kolev|m=1.75|kgs=60|year=2007|month=08|date=02}} {{player3|pos=F|num=24|nat=BUL|first=Georgi|last=Boyanov|m=2.00|kgs=94|year=1993|month=05|date=09}} {{player3|pos=G|num=35|nat=BUL|first=Ventsislav|last=Petkov|m=1.88|kgs=80|year=1991|month=10|date=14}} {{player3|pos=C|num=39|nat=BUL|first=Svetoslav|last=Slavov|m=2.05|kgs=110|year=2008|month=02|date=05}}  {{Basketball roster footer|head_coach=* {{player||BUL|[[Vassil Evtimov]]}}|asst_coach=* {{player||BUL|Veselin Veselinov}} * {{player||BUL|Mihail Kapitanov}}|physio=* {{player||BUL|Petko Petkov}}|roster_url=https://nbl.basketball.bg/team-1319-cherno-more-ticha|accessdate=27 December 2025}}

=== Notable players === {{See also|Category:BC Cherno More players}}{{Basketball notable players criteria}}{{Columns-list|* {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Bozhidar Avramov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Georgi Boyanov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Tsvetomir Chernokozhev]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Dejan Ivanov|Deyan Ivanov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Kaloyan Ivanov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Stanimir Marinov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Georgi Glushkov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Yulian Radionov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Todor Stoykov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Stanislav Tsonkov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Asen Velikov]] * {{flagicon|BUL}} [[Aleksandar Yanev]] * {{flagicon|CRO}} {{flagicon|BIH}} [[Ivan Karačić (basketball)|Ivan Karačić]] * {{flagicon|USA}} [[Rodney Purvis]] * {{flagicon|GB}} [[Jelani Watson-Gayle]]|colwidth=250px}}

== Honours == *'''[[National Basketball League (Bulgaria)|NBL]]''' :'''Champions (3):''' 1985, 1998, 1999 :'''Second place (8):''' 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2009, [[2024–25 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2025]] :'''Third place (7):''' 1984, 1993, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2014, [[2014–15 National Basketball League (Bulgaria) season|2015]] *'''[[Bulgarian Basketball Cup|Bulgarian Cup]]''' : '''Champions (6):''' 1998, 1999, 2000, [[2015 Bulgarian Basketball Cup|2015]], [[2025 Bulgarian Basketball Cup|2025]], [[2026 Bulgarian Basketball Cup|2026]] *'''[[Bulgarian Basketball Super Cup|Bulgarian Super Cup]]''' : '''Champions (1):''' 2025

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://chernomoreticha.com/ Official website] * [http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=BUL&Team=1749 Eurobasket.com BC Cherno More PV Page] * [https://nbl.basketball.bg/team-1319-cherno-more-ticha NBL Cherno More page]

[[Category:Basketball teams in Bulgaria]] [[Category:Sport in Varna, Bulgaria]]