U18 Next Generation Select Team remained undefeated at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals by fending off U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 63-60 in the final game of the group stage. Having already locked up its spot in Saturday’s ANGT Championship Game, NGS went back and forth with Zvedza before Mohamed Diawara hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to grab the win and a 3-0 record in Group B. Pacome Dadiet paced NGS with 13 points and Filip Jovic and Illan Pietrus both scored 11 points for the winners, who will next take on U18 Mega Mozzart Belgrade to decide the 2022 ANGT champion. Andrija Vukovic poured in a game high 19 points while Ognjen Matovic collected 10 points and 12 rebounds, but Zvezda finished the tournament with a 0-3 record.
Diawara buzzer-beater gives NGS win over Zvezda
Zvezda scored the first four points and NGS answered with the next four points. The teams swamped runs of six points and then five points from Dadiet gave NGS its first lead 15-13. And the score was 15-14 after 10 minutes.
Zvezda started the second quarter strongly with Marko Sarenac and Lazar Djokovic both hitting three-pointers and Djokovic and Vukovic both converting three-point plays in a 5-17 run to jump ahead 20-31. Vukovic added six more points and Zvezda lead 28-39 at halftime.
NGS had the better start to the second half with the first eight points to pull within 36-39. Four Dadiet points and a Jovic three-pointer trimmed the margin to 43-45. Zvzeda answered with the last four points of the period and a 43-49 lead.
Vukovic’s basket to start the fourth quarter made it an eight-point game. NGS responded with an 8-2 spurt to pull within 51-53. And a 7-1 surge later evened the game 58-58 with 2 minutes to play. Lazar Gagic scored to put Zvezda back ahead before Jovic tallied but failed to hit the bonus free throw to leave it tied 60-60 with a minute left. After both teams committed a turnover, Matovic missed a jumper with 13 seconds to play leaving the game to be decided by the selection team and Diawara banked in his three-pointer at the buzzer.