Nikola Topic etched his name in the record books of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament as the U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade leader spearheaded his team’s improbable comeback against U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade with a record-tying 49 points and one of the best PIRs in history, 65.

In helping his team come back from 21 points down with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, Topic tallied 49 points in 43:15 minutes of Zvezda’s thrilling 95-96 overtime win over NGT Belgrade. He made 10-of-13 two-pointers, 3-of-7 three-pointers and all 20 of his free throws to go with 3 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals and 11 fouls drawn for an index ranking of 65.

"Unbelievable game, we were losing in the first half, we didn’t start good and needed to catch up. It was a great game. Thanks to my teammates and the fans who came out. Now we move on," said the mild-mannered Topic about his performance.

About what he was thinking when the team was down 21 points early in the third quarter, he added: "I just wanted to win. That’s all. My team helped me. That’s all. It was a team win."

Starting from that deficit, Topic tallied 37 points with 16 of his free throws, 6 assists and 9 fouls drawn in the final 11 minutes of action.

"What can you say about him? He is pure gold for European and world basketball. What can you say about his performance tonight? It was unbelievable. He’s a great guy, a great worker. He understands basketball so much. There is a lot of good times in front of him," said Zvezda head coach Branko Jorovic.

Topic’s 49 points tied the all-time ANGT record for points in a single game with Lefteris Mantkoukas of U18 Promitheas Patras in 2020-21. Topic’s 65 PIR ranks tied for third all-time with Mantzoukas from the same game - behind only Nikola Mirotic's 84 PIR with U18 Real Madrid in 2008-09 and 66 for Dragan Bender with U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2014-15.

Topic’s 20 free throws made matched Mantzoukas’s record for most in a single game from the same 2020-21 game, but Mantzoukas made 20-of-23. Topic’s perfect night from the foul line shattered the previous best mark of 14-for-14 shooting by Mirotic in his game with 84 PIR.

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