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NextGen Munich MVP Vilkas inspired by former Barcelona youth star Jakucionis

Lithuania has no shortage of great players and one of the next ones on the radar could be Arminas Vilkas, who took home the Most Valuable Player honor after helping the U18 Next Gen Team Munich take the title at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich. And the center draws a bit of inspiration from a player who left a major mark on the competition in the last two years - Kasparas Jakucionis.

Vilkas averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks and a 19.2 PIR as NGM defeated U18 Valencia Basket 88-100 to take first place in the second qualifying tournament of the season. He ranked third in PIR, fourth in rebounds, second in blocks and second in offensive rebounds with 3.5.

“It really means a lot. It was unexpected for me. We had a lot of really great players on this team. So it really means a lot. And I appreciate it very much,” said Vilkas, who collected 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steal and 5 blocks for an index rating of 36 in the first place game.

“I had 12 players in my head and trying to give them fair minutes so they could get the best exposure out of this tournament. Arminas really stood out. He really deserved the minutes he got. I had to keep him in the game. This guy was incredible all tournament long - offensively and defensively. He helped us so much,” NGM head coach Dogus Balbay said about Vilkas.

This was the second time Vilkas was playing in the competition after he was an invited player for U18 Zalgiris Kaunas at the NextGen Dubai tournament last season.

“The city of Dubai was great, and the whole experience was great. Zalgiris is a great system. We played great, too. We lost in the final, sadly. But it was a great experience,” said Vilkas, who averaged 4.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in Dubai, where the team lost to U18 ratiopharm Ulm in the first place game.

Vilkas is a Kaunas native and started playing the game in second grade and grew up playing for Tornado Kaunas. He is still playing for the team - though only at the U18 level. This season he is also playing for Vilkaviskio in the Lithuanian second division.

Vilkas last season played with Zalgiris as an invited player, but this time he was chosen by Adidas for the Next Gen team for the Munich tournament.

“It means that people see me and they think I can play. I really appreciate that. And I am really happy to be here,” he said.

Vilkas was seen on the international stage twice last summer playing for his country. He averaged 1.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in helping Lithuania finish fifth at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024 as part of his own 2007-born generation. But he also played a year up and picked up 1.7 points and 1.0 rebounds as part of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024 for the 2006-born generation.

“It was a really good experience. The (U18) team plays different basketball than Under-17. So I had to adapt because I came right after the World Cup ended. So I had to adapt quickly,” said Vilkas, whose final game of the U17 World Cup was July 7 and the opener of the U18 EuroBasket was on July 27.

Vilkas said it was exciting to play along great players on the U18 team like Jakucionis and Nojus Indrusaitis, both of whom have moved to college in the United States. That 2006-born Lithuanian generation won the title at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2022 and then finished sixth at the U18 continental tournament.

It was especially meaningful to interact with Jakucionis, who starred two seasons in the NextGen competition for U18 Barcelona. The guard won the MVP of the NextGen Zadar in 2022-23 and then repeated the honor at the NextGen Belgrade event in 2023-24. Jakucionis also made his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague debut in 2023-24 and played two games in the Spanish League.

“He was a really great guy. He's friendly. He talks. You would think like a star would be up here (signals above him), like, he wouldn't talk to you because you're too low for him. But he's a friendly guy. He’s like a friend. You can talk to him like a friend. And you don't see that he's a star, that everybody knows him,” Vilkas said of Jakucionis, who dominating for Illinois in college with 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steals.

“It really inspires me to be a good guy and to reach for my dreams.”

And the performance adds Vilkas to a list of Lithuanian talents to watch for the future.

Vilkas played with two-time NextGen qualifier MVP at FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024

Arminas Vilkas was named Most Valuable Player of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich after helping the U18 Next Gen Team Munich finish in first place

Arminas Vilkas takes home MVP for Next Gen team 

[Arminas Vilkas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/arminas-vilkas/012982/) was named Most Valuable Player of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich after helping the U18 Next Gen Team Munich finish in first place.

Vilkas collected 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steal and 5 blocks for an index rating of of 36 in the 88-100 win over U18 Valencia Basket. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by NGM teammate [Mathias Vazquez](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/mathias-vazquez/013598/), [Tomas Talcis](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/tomas-talcis/013530/) of Valencia, [Ignacio Campoy](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/ignacio-campoy/012803/) of U18 Real Madrid and U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana’s [Mark Morano](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/mark-morano/012331/).

For the tournament, the Lithuanian Vilkas averaged 9.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.8 blocks and a 19.2 PIR. He ranked third in PIR, fourth in rebounds and second in both blocks and offensive rebounds (3.5).

Arminas Vilkas 

Mathias Vazquez

Tomas Talcis 

Ignacio Campoy 

Mark Morano

Vazquez tallied 19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block for a PIR of 19 in the first-place game. He averaged 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 blocks for an 11.8 PIR over the weekend.

Talcis did all he could for Valencia against NGM but his 22 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist for a PIR of 24 were not enough. He collected 14.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steal and 16.2 PIR. He was fifth in PIR, sixth in points and fifth with 2.5 offensive rebounds.

Morano led the tournament in scoring with 21.0 points and was first in PIR at 21.5 while also going for 5.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steals.

Campoy collected 11.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals for a PIR of 18.8. He ranked fourth in PIR, third in rebounds, first in steals and third with 3.0 offensive rebounds.

The Lithuanian shined brightest in the first-place game 

U18 Next Gen Team Munich is the winner of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich tournament after defeating U18 Valencia Basket 88-100 in the first-place game

Next Gen Team Munich claims first place at NextGen EuroLeague Munich with win over Valencia 

U18 Next Gen Team Munich is the winner of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich tournament after defeating U18 Valencia Basket 88-100 in the first-place game. NGM became the second selection team to win a qualifier following last year’s NextGen Paris event. Mathias Vazquez scored a team-high 19 points with 6 rebounds, Arminas Vilkas and Guillermo Del Pino both scored 16 points and Reino Saivosalmi added 13 points. Valencia missed a chance to win its second qualifier in club history after it had claimed first place at the NextGen Valencia in 2018-19. Tomas Talcis had 22 points for Valencia and Pau Torrens had 15 points, but the team’s two leading scorers - Javier Viguer and Nicolas Gomez - were held to a combined 13 points - 14.7 points below their combined average.

Game News

NGM’s defense was strong to start, giving up just one basket in building a 2-9 lead over 3 minutes. The selection team got two scores from Vilkas and back-to-back three-pointers from Saivosalmi for a 12-27 advantage. Dogus Balbay’s team led 17-31 after 10 minutes.

Conrado Heilmann opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and the Spanish side was able to score a bit more consistently and the team’s second-leading scorer Viguer finally scored his first points to make it 24-35. Another Vazquez three-pointer helped the cushion grow to 24-39. Valencia fought back into the game thanks to two Victor Iglesias three-pointers and 7 points by Talcis to close within 40-43. Talcis added another three-point play and Iglesias put Valencia back in front 47-46. NGM responded with nearly 2 minutes of tough defense while Ricards Aizpurs hitting a triple and Vilkas converted a three-point play for a 47-54 lead. And the teams went into the locker room with Valencia down 49-54.

Aizpurs hit a triple to start the second half but Valencia went on a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead 58-57. A Torrens triple had Valencia up 63-61 and it was 65-65 with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter. NGM scored the next nine points and was up 70-77 after 30 minutes.

After a Vilkas basket, Torrens scored the next 5 points to get Valencia as close as 75-79. NGM showed its offensive firepower with a 2-10 surge as Del Pino and Saivosalmi hit three-pointers and it was 77-89. Valencia would not give up and made it 84-90 with about 4 minutes to play. Valencia stuck within striking range with a Talcis three-point play and an Alex Blanco three-pointer to pull the deficit to 88-95. But Del Pino delivered the dagger three-pointer with 57 seconds to play.

NGM becomes second selection team to win a qualifier 

U18 Valencia Basket v U18 Next Gen Team Munich (2025-01-19T15:45:00.000Z)

U18 Real Madrid bounced back from its historic loss in the final group stage game and comfortably beat U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 82-98 to clinch third place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich

Real routs Cedevita to take third place 

U18 Real Madrid bounced back from its historic loss in the final group stage game and comfortably beat U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 82-98 to clinch third place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich. Real pulled away for good with a 0-18 run spanning the first and second quarters. Ignacio Campoy scored 23 points with 8 rebounds, Fabian Kayser scored 17 points and Adrians Andzevs had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Mark Hukic nailed 6 three-pointers in scoring a team-high 20 points in a losing effort. 

Cedevita was ahead 10-6 and it was 12-10 when Real scored 6 straight points. The Balkan side trimmed the deficit to 16-18 only to see Real reel off 11 straight points for a 16-29 lead after 10 minutes. The run continued until Real led 16-36. Another run of 8 points increased the margin to 28-52 and the Spanish powerhouse reached the 30-point lead mark at 33-63. Real went into the halftime break up 36-65. 

Cedevita tried to get back into the game with 7 straight points to make it 43-68 and it finished the third quarter with an 8-2 spurt to make it 55-76 after three quarters. Cedevita could not get closer than 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Two-time reigning champion bounces back from loss in style 

U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v U18 Real Madrid (2025-01-19T13:30:00.000Z)

U18 FC Bayern Munich finished the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich in fifth place after defeating U18 SC Derby Podgorica 77-64

Bayern grabs fifth place after beating Derby 

U18 FC Bayern Munich finished the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich in fifth place after defeating U18 SC Derby Podgorica 77-64. The game was tight for the first three quarters until Bayern pulled away in the final frame. Nikolas Sermpezis poured in 21 points and Andrija Susic added 11 points. Derby won just one game for sixth place. Ognjen Brajovic and Marko Popovic both scored 10 points.

The game was close for most of the first quarter with Bayern up 14-9. Derby went on a 0-8 run to take a 14-17 lead but the game was tied 17-17 after 10 minutes. Bayern went scoreless for nearly 4 minutes and fell behind 19-25. The hosts went on an 8-0 surge and it was 33-27 at halftime.

Derby stayed close and then scored six straight points and took a 39-42 advantage. Bayern however led 49-48 after three quarters. Bayern took control of the game with a 9-0 run to lead 60-50. Derby made it a 5-point game but Bayern again led by double figures at 69-59 with 3 minutes left to decide the game.

The hosts finish the tournament with two wins 

U18 FC Bayern Munich v U18 SC Derby Podgorica (2025-01-19T11:15:00.000Z)

U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki secured seventh place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich by defeating U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna 73-62. Aris controlled the game throughout for its second victory of the event. Vasileios Kazamias led Aris with 16 points and 6 assists, Vassilis Pourlidas had 15 points and Nikolaos Keramitsopoulos added 14 points. Matteo Lenci was Virtus’ leading scorer with 24 points. Virtus did not win a game in Munich. 

 

Pourlidas scored 8 points as Aris opened a 17-4 lead and the margin was 14 points at 20-6 before the first quarter ended with the Greek side ahead 20-7. Virtus tried to fight back into the game and was down 22-15 and then 29-23. Aris responded and led 37-25 at the break.

 

Aris had the better start to the second half and extended the cushion to 19 points at 49-30. Virtus managed to cut the deficit to 52-38 but the score was 54-38 after 30 minutes. Virtus was still not finished, multiple times pulling within eight points, the last one being 67-59 inside the final 2 minutes. But Pourlidas nailed a dagger three-pointer to decide the game.

Greek club picks up two victories in tournament 

Aris grabs seventh place with comfortable win over Virtus 

U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki v U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2025-01-19T09:00:00.000Z)

Caspar Vossenberg accepting his roles on different teams for FC Bayern Munich Basket basketball at the NextGen EuroLeague

Caspar Vossenberg accepting his roles on different teams for Bayern 

Caspar Vossenberg has been following the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague for the last two years and he was excited to play this year at the continent’s top youth club competition. Despite being two years younger than the rest of the players, the FC Bayern Munich talent has shown why he is one of the next big hopes in German basketball.

Vossenberg was born in 2009, making him available to play in the next two editions of the NextGen EuroLeague. But he hasn’t played like a youngster not ready for the moment. He is averaged 15.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 2.0 steals through his first three games for an average performance index rating of 15.0.

“My expectations were high since it’s the biggest U18 tournament in Europe. The competition is very good and you can tell that every team gives their all and wants to win,” Vossenberg said.

Vossenberg has followed the last two years of the competition, admitting even watching the Friday games while at school before taking in the weekend games. And he also watched the NextGen Finals in Berlin last year.

Vossenberg is spending his first season with Bayern, havinf made the move to southern Germany on a multi-year deal after playing 2023-24 with German second division team ART Giants Dusseldorf.

It was there that he learned his first real lessons in taking different roles with different teams as he starred for Dusselfdorf’s U16 JBBL team and also practiced with the pro team in the ProA.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="nl" dir="ltr">Okay Caspar Vossenberg, DAMN 🤯<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NextGenEuroLeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NextGenEuroLeague</a> I <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/adidasbasketball?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#adidasbasketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/31IAlxILKt">pic.twitter.com/31IAlxILKt</a></p>&mdash; Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroLeague/status/1880644516073677000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I learned just how much of a different level the ProA is compared to the JBBL. But I also learned how to accept two different roles. You can be the leader in the JBBL, but you can’t show up in the ProA and just say give me the ball and do what you want. You have to take a different role and accept it,” said Vossenberg, who averaged 24.3 points and 12.4 rebounds in the U16 league but did not make an appearance in the ProA.

Vossenberg started with football like almost all German youngsters while growing up in Duisburg and was about 5 or 6 years old when he decided to play basketball. He says he was 12 or 13 when he first dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player.

He joined Düsseldorf in 2023 but then after last season was looking for another club and one of his main choices was Bayern.

“When my parents and I were in Munich, we didn’t need much time to decide that we will go to Munich. When we were there it was pretty clear I would transfer to Munich,” he remembered. “One of the most important reasons was the FC Bayern Campus. It’s crazy that you can live there in the dormitories. It’s giant, big rooms, good food and other requirements you need as an athlete. On top of that, I had heard positive things about FC Bayern.”

Vossenberg also liked the idea that Bayern would give him a chance to play in different teams over the course of his development. This is his final season at the U16 level and he has averaged 28.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in three games in the JBBL. He has been worth 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds in the U19 NBBL league and has also 1.9 points in 7 minutes in seven games in the third division ProB.

“You can see the difference of the levels between U16, U19 and then third division. I have a different role in each team - which I would like to change long term. That would be important for my career because it’s important for me to take different roles in the higher level teams,” he said.

I have a different role in each team - which I would like to change long term. That would be important for my career

Of course, there is also Bayern’s pro team that plays in the German League and the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. And the management has shown a commitment to play young players. Ivan Kharchenkov, who starred for Bayern last season at the NextGen EuroLeague, is averaging more than 7 minutes per game in the EuroLeague. And fellow 2006-born talent Ivan Volf also made his EuroLeague debut at 18 years of age.

But being in Munich also has had its challenges for Vossenberg. Whereas Dusseldorf was less than 30 kilometers from his hometown of Duisburg, Munich is nearly 650 kilometers away.

“It’s really far away from home, and you have to leave all your family and friends back home. But that was not going to stop me from transferring because it would get in the way of my dream. So I decided to leave everything behind and start the next step of my career here,” he said,

Vossenberg also has already made his first in-roads in the German youth national team ranks. He played last spring in the famous U18 national team competition Albert Schweitzer Tournament for a German U17 team. And he is expected to be one of the leaders of the German team this summer at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2025. Vossenberg is part of a very highly talented 2009 generation, including Fabian Kayser, who is also playing at the NextGen EuroLeague Munich tournament with U18 Real Madrid, Roko Jerkic, Djordje Klaric, Jona Drücke and Lucai Anderson.

“I think it’s mega cool that our 2009 generation is so strong. Of course, our goal is to qualify for the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup and also win a medal this year,” Vossenberg said of the U16 EuroBasket, from which the top five teams book their tickets to the 2026 U17 World Cup. “But it’s important for us to have a good 2009 generation in general for German basketball. And it is fun to have a strong generation and play with the best players from your country.”

And to have another role to play and figure out how he fits within the team - just like he has started doing in earnest in the last two seasons.

The 2009-born talent is one of Bayern’s leaders already at the U19 level domestically

Watch LIVE: Day 3 of NextGen EuroLeague in Munich

U18 Valencia Basket and U18 Next Gen Team Munich will battle for the crown at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague 2024-25, the second of four Next Gen qualifying tournaments, which is taking place this weekend at BMW Park in Munich. The winner of Sunday’s game between the two teams with 3-0 records will book a ticket to the NextGen Finals.

**Sunday, January 19, 2025**

7th place: U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki vs. U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna (10:00 CET)

5th place: U18 FC Bayern Munich vs. U18 SC Derby Podgorica (12:15 CET)

3rd place: U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana vs. U18 Real Madrid (14:30 CET)

1st place: U18 Valencia Basket vs. U18 Next Gen Team Munich (16:45 CET)

The final day of the tournament in Munich is all set up

NGT Munich wins first place at Next Gen qualifier

Watch LIVE: Day 2 of NextGen EuroLeague in Munich

U18 Valencia Basket and U18 Next Gen Team Munich will be battling for the crown at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague 2024-25, the second of four Next Gen qualifying tournaments which is taking place this weekend at the BMW Park in Munich. The winner of Sunday’s game between two teams with a 3-0 record will book a ticket to the NextGen Finals.

**Sunday, January 19, 2025**                                      

7th place: U18 Aris Midea Thessaloniki vs. U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna (10:00 CET)

5th place: U18 FC Bayern Munich vs. U18 SC Derby Podgorica (12:15 CET)

3rd place: U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana vs. U18 Real Madrid (14:30 CET)

1st place: U18 Valencia Basket vs. U18 Next Gen Team Munich (16:45 CET)

Day 2 of NextGen in Munich: Valencia, NGM into first-place game

U18 Next Gen Team Munich surprised two-time reigning champion U18 Real Madrid 58-63 to lock up a spot in the first-place game of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich.

Next Gen Team surprises Real, reaches first-place game

U18 Next Gen Team Munich surprised two-time reigning champion U18 Real Madrid 58-63 to lock up a spot in the first-place game of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich. The game was close throughout NGM ended Real’s streak of winning consecutive qualifying tournaments at 11. Real also had won its last 19 NextGen games dating back to the NextGen Finals in 2022 in Belgrade. Gabriel Veras paced NGM with 13 points and Felipe Minzer chipped in 10 points.

NGM will face U18 Valencia Basket in Sunday’s first-place game. Real Madrid, which has won the last two NextGen trophies and five in total, was led by Fabian Kayser’s 12 points.

NGM had the first four points and held Real scoreless for nearly 4 minutes before a Maximo Garcia-Plata score. Real was down 5-6 when Arminas Vilkas and Ricards Aizpurs both hit three-pointers for a 7-12 NGM lead. Veras added a triple for the selection team and it was 12-19. And the score was 14-19 after 10 minutes. The two remained close and the lead changed hands four in the middle of the second quarter and NGM built a 6-point lead 26-32. And the score was 28-33 at halftime. 

Real struggled to score early in the second half and the cushion was 30-37. Declan Duru scored 5 points to pull within 38-40. But NGM led 42-45 after 30 minutes. A Kayser three-pointer tied the game 45-45 and a Garcia-Plata three-pointer put the Spanish powerhouse up 52-49. And it was 56-53 when NGM had a run that ended with a Veras triple to make it 56-61. Kayser trimmed the gap to 58-61 but the young 2009-born talent missed a triple with 14 seconds that would have tied the game. And Veras added a free throw as Real’s streak ended.

NGM ends Real’s streak of winning qualifying tournaments at 11

U18 Real Madrid v U18 Next Gen Team Munich (2025-01-18T19:15:00.000Z)

U18 SC Derby Podgorica clinched its first victory of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich tournament with an 87-64 win over U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Derby had a big 10-0 spurt in the final quarter to decide the game for a 1-2 record in Group B. 

Derby secures first victory in beating Virtus

U18 SC Derby Podgorica clinched its first victory of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Munich tournament with an 87-64 win over U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Derby had a big 10-0 spurt in the final quarter to decide the game for a 1-2 record in Group B. Vladimir Komnenovic had 18 points as Derby’s top scorer and Vuk Tudorovic scored 12 points. Matteo Accorsi tallied 17 points for Virtus, which finished group play with a 0-3 record. 

Virtus led early on 2-6 and it was 6-14 and the first double digit advantage was 8-18. The Italian side moved the lead to 11 at 12-23 and the score was 15-26 after 10 minutes. Virtus continued its strong play in the second quarter and extended the advantage to 15 points at 17-32. Derby fought back into the game and was down just 40-42 at the break.  

Derby finally pulled back in front 43-42 but Virtus pushed back and was up 45-51 midway through the third frame. Derby put together a 15-1 surge and opened a 60-52 cushion and it was 62-55 going into the final 10 minutes. Virtus was still close and trailed 67-59 when Derby finished off the game for good with a 10-0 run.

Montenegro club will play for fifth place 

U18 SC Derby Podgorica v U18 Virtus Segafredo Bologna (2025-01-18T17:00:00.000Z)

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade booked its ticket to the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals after defeating U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul 86-70 in the NextGen Istanbul first place game

Mega downs NGT to book ticket to NextGen Finals

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade booked its ticket to the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals after defeating U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul 86-70 in the NextGen Istanbul first place game. The 2022 continental champion Mega, which also reached the 2017 and 2019 NextGen Championship Game, has now advanced to the season-ending tournament in each of the last nine editions. Mega hit a barrage of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to blow the game open. Ognjen Srzentic paced Mega with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks for an index rating of 33 and Pavle Backo collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 29. Vuk Danilovic chipped in 10 points including a couple of big triples. NGT dropped its first game of the tournament despite Isaac Guedegbe scoring 16 points with 4 assists and Jahel Trefle adding 15 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.

The Next Gen pulled ahead early 2-8 with Trefle scoring 4 points. After being limited to 14 points in the last group stage game, Srzentic started hot for Mega with 7 points in a 12-0 run to lead 16-10. A Stratos Papastavrou triple snapped the rut but Mega followed with the next 7 points for the first double-figure lead, 23-13. NGT finished the quarter with the final 4 points to trail 23-17 after 10 minutes. 

A Backo layup to start the second quarter had the Serbian side ahead 25-17. Papastavrou knocked down another triple and Louka Letailleur added a three-point play as NGT got the gap down to 29-28. NGT was twice able to tie the game but the select team could not handle Backo, who had 6 straight points for a 44-37 Mega lead. Te score was 44-40 at the break. 

The combo of Srzentic and Backo carried Mega to a 54-44 lead about 4 minutes into the second half. NGT punched right back with back-to-back three-pointers from Lucas Sanchez and Papastavrou and it was a two-point game again. Mega answered with an 11-1 surge to finish the third quarter with a 65-53 advantage.

Nikola Karalic stepped up early in the final frame with 3 points to establish a 13-point lead 68-55. And Srzentic, Danilovic, Vuk Krunic and Vukasin Musikic all hit three-pointers in a span of 3 minutes and the Mega cushion was 80-63 with less than 3 minutes to play.

2022 champion reaches season-ending tournament for ninth straight edition

Mega downs NGT to book ticket to NextGen Finals 

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade v U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul (2024-12-01T13:45:00.000Z)

News

Mega downs NGT to book ticket to NextGen Finals

Informes de partidos

NextGen Munich MVP Vilkas inspired by former Barcelona youth star Jakucionis

Arminas Vilkas takes home MVP for Next Gen team

Next Gen Team Munich claims first place at NextGen EuroLeague Munich with win over Valencia

Real routs Cedevita to take third place

Bayern grabs fifth place after beating Derby

Aris grabs seventh place with comfortable win over Virtus

Informes de partidos

Caspar Vossenberg accepting his roles on different teams for Bayern

NGT Munich wins first place at Next Gen qualifier

Day 2 of NextGen in Munich: Valencia, NGM into first-place game

Next Gen Team surprises Real, reaches first-place game

Derby secures first victory in beating Virtus