Next Gen Team survives drama, edges Trento 57-58
U18 Next Gen Team Belgrade pulled out a 57-58 win against U18 Dolomiti Energia Trento to improve to 2-1 record in Group B at the NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade. Trento remained winless and will play in the seventh-place game, while Next Gen improved to 2-1, pulling out a hard-fought win just hours after its double-overtime loss against INSEP.
Apart from a 3-2 lead early in the game, Trento trailed the rest of the way, even by 16 points. But it rallied in the second half, and Patrick Hassan hit a three-pointer with 1:07 to go, to give Trento a 57-56 lead. But Federico Bottelli made two foul shots with 11 seconds to go to restore Next Gen Team’s lead. In the remaining time, Ivan Prato emphatically rejected Hassan’s attempt, then Cesare Placinschi missed a shot inside at the buzzer, as the Next Gen Team prevailed.
The winners, which need help from U18 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in the final game of group stage to secure a place in Sunday’s first-place game, had 11 different scorers in the low-scoring affair, but none more than Kaur Tomann’s 10 points. Hassan led Trento with 24 points.
