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 where the winner will join ANGT Belgrade first place finisher U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne and ANGT Patras top team U18 Stellazzurra Rome.
NGV defeats Joventut, reaches first place game
Game Report
2 Mins read
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 - while Ruben Prey picked up 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals.
Perrin and Marangon opened the game with three-pointers for the selection team while Prey hit from deep for Joventut. Perrin was unstoppable with six more points as NGV led 7-16. Rodriguez knocked down a three-pointer for Joventut while Perrin picked up four more points for a 12-20 lead after 10 minutes. Marangon started the scoring in the second quarter and the advantage was 12-22. Joventut responded with the next 10 points - including three-pointers from Gerard Bosch and Rodriguez - to knot the game at 22-22. NGV responded from deep with Giovannetti and Gomez hitting three-pointers and Perrin picked up another basket as the lead was 25-34 at halftime.
NGV started the third quarter strong with Gomez hitting one triple and Giovannetti draining back-to-back three-pointers in a 4-16 run for a 29-50 cushion. Rodriguez answered with three triples within 2 minutes and Joventut was within 38-52. The score after 30 minutes was 41-57. Another Rodriguez triple and two scores from Prey cut the margin to 48-60 with 7 minutes to play. Ege Tan Yildizoglu answered with two scores and the lead swelled to 48-64. Joventut was not done yet as Aristode Dwayne knocked down a triple to trim it to 55-65 with 2 minutes left and Martinez’s layup made it 60-67 with 17 seconds remaining. But the hole was too deep for Joventut.