U18 Real Madrid booked its ticket to the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals after defeating U18 Zalgiris Kaunas 60-61 in a thrilling ANGT Ljubljana first-place game on Sunday evening.
ANGT Ljubljana first place game: Real edges Zalgiris!
U18 Zalgiris Kaunas 60-61 U18 Real Madrid
Real wasted a 14-point first-quarter lead and could never shake off Zalgiris, which made just 1 of 3 free throws with 1.7 seconds left, missing a chance to win or at least send the game to overtime. Eli Ndiaye collected 14 points and 11 rebounds and Urban Klavzar and Sediq Garuba both scored 11 points as Real finished first in its ANGT qualifying tournament for the ninth straight season. Paulius Murauskas drained 6 three-pointers in scoring 22 points with 11 rebounds in a losing effort.
U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana 81-69 U18 ALBA Berlin
NGL secured third place with an 81-69 victory over ALBA. NGL fell behind 0-16 to start the game but took the lead in the third quarter and never trailed in the fourth. Luis Garcia paced the selection team with 27 points and 12 rebounds while Urban Kroflic scored 15 points and Alvaro Folgueiras added 9 points and 11 rebounds. Nils Machowski and Linus Ruf both scored 18 for ALBA.
U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 77-95 U18 Basket Brno
Brno locked up fifth place with a 77-95 victory over host Cedevita. Simon Svoboda poured in 26 points to lead Brno while Jakub Necas collected 24 points, 11 rebounds, 7 rebounds and 4 steals and Josef Svoboda chipped in 15 points. Tomas Belina paced Cedevita with 21 points.
U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia 82-71 U18 Orange1 Bassano
Gdynia captured seventh place by knocking off BASSANO 82-71. Maksymilian Wilczek drained 5 three-pointers in a 22-0 fourth-quarter run to decide the game. Wilczek fisnihed with 23 points, Mateusz Samiec scored 16 and Szymon Nowicki and Antoni Siewruk both added 13. Dame Sarr totaled 18 points for BASSANO, which failed to get a win in its first appearance at the event.