ANGT Varese, Day 2: NGV and PFYM set up first-place clash

U18 PFYM INSEP Paris and U18 Next Generation Team Varese advanced to Sunday’s first place game at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Varese after finishing their respective groups with perfect 3-0 records. The winner of the game will qualify for the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in May, joining ANGT Belgrade first place finisher U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne and ANGT Patras top team U18 Stellazzurra Rome.

Also on Sunday, U18 Joventut Badalona will play fellow Spanish side U18 Casademont Zaragoza for third place, host side U18 Varese Academy will face U18 ratiopharm Ulm for fifth place and U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens takes on U18 AX Armani Exchange Milan for seventh place.

U18 Next Generation Team Varese 75-43 U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens

U18 Next Generation Team Varese collected its second victory in two games as it defeated U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 75-43 in Group A. NGV reeled off a 14-0 run to end the third quarter to pull away and move to 2-0. Mahamadou Diarra was the leading scorer with 14 points and 10 rebounds, David Gomez scored 12 points and Leonardo Marangon picked up 11 points and 9 rebounds. Panathinaikos made just 4-of-39 three-pointers (10.3%) and committed 21 turnovers in dropping to 0-2. Symeon Efstathiou led the Greens with 9 points and Emmanouil Dimou tallied 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

U18 Varese Academy 54-83 U18 Joventut Badalona

U18 Joventut Badalona remained perfect at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Varese with a comfortable 54-83 victory over host side U18 Varese Academy. The 2013 continental champion finished the third quarter on a 4-19 run to improve to 2-0 in Group A and set up a showdown with U18 Next Generation Team Varese later Saturday for first place in the group. Jordi Rodriguez poured in 22 points with 5 steals to lead Joventut while Aristode Dwayne and Gerard Bosch both scored 12 points and Albert Garrido had 11 points and 7 assists. Varese shot just 24.4% on two-pointers and committed 20 turnovers in dropping to 0-2 in the group. Davide Brembilla had 10 points in the loss and Karl Poom picked up 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

U18 Casademont Zaragoza 68-45 U18 AX Armani Exchange Milan

U18 Casademont Zaragoza grabbed its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Varese by knocking off U18 AX Armani Exchange Milan 68-45 to finish Group B action with a 1-2 record. Zaragoza used an 18-4 run spanning the first two quarters to take control of the game. Aday Mara paced the winners with 14 points and 10 rebounds while Pavle Stosic had 12 points and 10 rebounds, Javier Fernandez scored 11 points and Manuel Zapater added 10 points. Milan made just 3-of-30 three-pointers (10.0%) in falling to 1-2 in the group. Lionel Abega led the team in scoring with 11 points and Samuele Miccoli added 10 points.

U18 PFYM INSEP Paris 68-39 U18 ratiopharm Ulm

U18 PFYM INSEP Paris coasted its way into the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Varese first place game by beating U18 ratiopharm Ulm 68-39 to finish the group stage undefeated. The two-time continental champion held Ulm to 11.8% three-point shooting and forced 29 turnovers for a 3-0 mark in Group B. Rayan Rupert paced the winners with 14 points as the only player in double figures. Aurele Brena-Chemille had 9 points and 6 steals, Melvin Ajinca picked up 9 points and 6 rebounds and Mael Hamon Crespin added 8 points and 7 rebounds. Ulm dropped to 1-2 in the group despite Tobias Jensen and Lenny Liedtke both scoring 11 points and Jacob Ensminger tallying 4 points, 16 rebounds and 3 assists.

U18 Joventut Badalona 60-69 U18 Next Generation Team Varese

U18 Next Generation Team Varese clinched a spot in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Varese first place game by defeating U18 Joventut Badalona 60-69 to finish Group A action with a 3-0 record. NGV will take on U18 PFYM INSEP Paris on Sunday for a ticket to the ANGT Finals. Zacherie Perrin collected 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead NGV, which is the first of the selection teams to reach an ANGT first place game. Leonardo Marangon, Lucas Giovannetti and David Gomez all scored 11 points and Stellen Rajaofera chipped in 3 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. The 2013 continental champion Joventut finished Group A with a 2-1 record and will play for third place on Sunday. Jordi Rodriguez scored 22 points, including 7 three-pointers - becoming just the 20th place in ANGT history with that many three-pointers in a game.

U18 Varese Academy 78-53 U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens

U18 Varese Academy made history by knocking off U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 78-53 for its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament. The ANGT Varese host side finished the first half on a 14-0 run and never looked back for a 1-2 record in Group A. Valdo Guimdo picked up 24 points and 10 rebounds while Zhao Wei totalled 21 points, 7 assists and 3 steals and Carlo Cane scored 14 points for the winners. Varese will take on U18 ratiopharm Ulm on Sunday for fifth place. Panathinaikos, which got 11 points from Emmanouil Dimou, will face U18 AX Armani Exchange Milan on Sunday for seventh place.