U18 Stellazzurra Rome finished off group play at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras with a perfect record after racing away from host side U18 Promitheas Patras 49-73. 

Big second half keeps Stellazzurra undefeated

Stellazzurra, which had already before the game secured the top spot in Group B and an appearance in Sunday’s first place game, allowed just 18 points in the second half to move to 3-0. Matteo Visintin led the Italian side with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals and Fabrizio Pugliatti had 14 points. Promitheas dropped to 0-3 in the group and will play for seventh place. Nikolaos Plotas and Nikolaos Vasileiou both scored 11 points and Ilias Kourepis had 10 points in the loss.

After Nikolaos Soilemetzidis opened the scoring for the host side, Stellazzurra reeled off the next 14 points - nine of them by Visintin - to lead 2-14. Promitheas was able to hold the Italian side to just two baskets in the final 5 minutes of the first quarter and got to within 14-18 after 10 minutes. A Vasileiou triple cut the gap to 17-20 only to see Pugliatti tally six points in a 3-12 surge to put Stellazzurra ahead 20-32. Promitheas fought back into the game and trailed just 31-34 at the break.

Plotas started the second half and pulled Promitheas within 33-34. Stellazzurra made sure it went into the first place game with momentum as it allowed just two baskets the rest of the quarter in a 5-23 run - including 15 points from Visintin and Emmanuel Innocenti. The lead was 38-57 after 30 minutes. The surge didn’t stop in the fourth quarter with a 2-10 run and Stellazzurra was able to give its leaders a break and reserves some playing time.

Lucas Fresno - U18 Stellazzurra Rome - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Promitheas Patras v U18 Stellazzurra Rome (2022-03-26T16:30:00.000Z)

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv surprised U18 FC Barcelona 79-85 to lock up its spot in the first place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras. 

Maccabi surprises Barcelona, reaches first place game

Maccabi allowed just 8 points in the second quarter and took the third quarter 21-33 to finish Group A with a perfect 3-0 record. Next up is a date against U18 Stellazzurra Rome on Sunday with a trip to the ANGT Finals at stake. Tomer Agmon paced Maccabi with 19 points, Shachar Doron scored 17 points, Ido Menchel had 14 and Ofri Naveh picked up 11 points and 9 rebounds in the win. Martin Iglesia tallied 28 points and 13 rebounds for the 2016 continental champion Barcelona, which will play for third place after finishing with a 2-1 record in Group A. Dayan Nessah scored 14 points and Rafa Villar added 12 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.

The battle was on from the very start with Iglesias and Nessah helping Barcelona pull ahead 9-5 while Agmon hit two three-pointers and Naveh also connected from deep and Maccabi was up 11-13. Iglesias picked up four more points and the Spanish side led 17-13. Maccabi finished the first quarter with a 1-6 spurt and led 18-19 after 10 minutes. Maccabi continued to score early in the second quarter but stepped up its defensive intensity and held Barcelona to just two points in the first nearly 6 minutes to creep 20-26. Iglesias added four more points to get Barcelona slowly going only to see Doron hit a three-pointer and Naveh convert a three-point play and Maccabi led 26-32 at the break.

The cushion swelled to double digits on Niv Avidan’s three-pointer to make it 26-37. Nessah countered with five points for Barcelona but Agmon and Doron both knocked down triples and the  margin grew to 35-50. Agmon and Doron each hit another three-pointer and the cushion was 40-62 with Maccabi up 47-65 after 30 minutes. Maccabi just did not let up and used the three-pointer some more with Omer Mayer and Menchel hitting from downtown and a 54-75 lead with 7 minutes left. Barcelona trimmed the gap to 12 points a couple of times but each time Maccabi came up with an answer - including Menchel stealing it from Iglesias and hitting a layup to make it 68-82 with 109 seconds left. Daniel Iruela hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds to cut the deficit to seven - 75-82 - but Maccabi punched right back with a fast break layup to decide the game for good.

Tomer Agmon - U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 FC Barcelona v U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv (2022-03-26T13:30:00.000Z)

U18 ZPA Tbilisi made history at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras as the debutant knocked off U18 Olympiacos Piraeus 72-78 to grab its first victory in the competition. 

Tbilisi downs Olympiacos for first ANGT win

In a game full of runs, Tbilisi took control with 15 straight points in the fourth quarter to finish Group A with a 1-2 record and will play for fifth place on Sunday. Luka Alavidze paced the Georgian team with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 10 fouls drawn for an index rating of 28. Frederiks Meinarts scored 20 points  and Vache Gegeshidze chipped in 8 points and 10 rebounds. Olympiacos dropped to 0-3 and will fight for seventh place. Michael Sprintzios was the team’s leading scorer with 20 points and 9 rebounds and Sarantos Sarantopoulos had 12 points.

Sprintzios and Michael-Aggelos Arfaras both hit three-pointers as Olympiacos jumped ahead to a 10-2 lead. Gegeshidze and Sprintzios swapped three-pointers before Alavidze scored four points to get Tbilisi within 17-14 and the score was 19-14 after 10 minutes. After Sprintzios pushed the lead to 23-14, Meinarts scored 11 points and Tbilisi was within 30-29. Olympiacos responded with next eight points only to see Tbilisi score the final seven points of the first half to trail 38-36 at the break.

Tbilisi’s momentum continued with Meinarts and Aleksandre Mgeladze hitting three-pointers to pull ahead 40-44. Olympiacos stepped up its defense and long-range shooting as Veniamin Amposi hit two three-pointers and Sprintzios added one in a 13-0 run over nearly 4 minutes to pull ahead 53-44. Giorgi Ochkhikidze’s three-pointer stopped the drought and started a 4-13 close to the third quarter and the game was knotted 57-57. Sarantopoulos and Sprintzios both hit triples early in the final frame and Olympiacos was up 65-59. But the Greek side’s offense dried up and went scoreless for nearly 6 minutes and Alavidze scored six points in a 0-15 run for a 65-74 cushion with under 3 minutes to play. Olympiacos just could not get its shots to fall and Tbilisi made history.

Gogita Bukia  - U18 ZPA Tbilisi - ANGT Patras (photo Nikos Karapanos - Patras) - JT21

U18 Olympiacos Piraeus v U18 ZPA TBILISI (2022-03-26T11:30:00.000Z)

U18 Stellazzurra Rome booked its spot in the first place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras after knocking off debutant U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy 60-85 in Group B. 

Stellazzurra books spot in ANGT Patras first place game

Stellazzurra led by 21 points already in the first quarter en route to improving to 2-0 in the group. Lucas Fresno led the way with 23 points for the Italian side which reached the ANGT Championship Game in 2018. Matteo Visintin picked up 22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals, Emmanuel Innocenti tallied 16 points, 5 assists and 6 steals and Fabrizio Pugliatti added 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Ville Karhu collected 15 points for Helsinki, which dropped to 1-1 in the group. Miro Little added 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Stellazzurra did not waste any time and scored the first seven points, holding Helsinki scoreless for nearly 3 minutes. Visintin picked up five points as the lead grew to 4-16. Fresno knocked down a three-pointer in pushing the margin to 8-25 and Innocenti’s three-pointer had Stellazzurra ahead 11-32 before it was 13-32 after 10 minutes. Stellazzurra extended the lead to 20 points early in the second quarter 16-36 before Fresno hit two three-pointers and Pugliatti and Visintin both had one triple in building a 26-52 advantage, which was 33-52 at the break.

Little had four points early in the second half but Helsinki could not get stops and the Italian side went on a 5-15 spurt and held a 42-69 cushion. The lead was 47-75 after 30 minutes. Helsinki had a strong start to the fourth quarter, holding Stellazzurra scoreless for the first 4 minutes and reeling off eight straight points to make it 55-75. And Karhu’s three-pointer trimmed the deficit to 19 points before Stellazzurra started executing again on offense. Stellazzurra also kept Helsinki scoreless for the next 4 minutes in building a 58-85 lead.

Matteo Visintin- U18 Stellazzurra Rome - ANGT Patras (photo Nikos Karapanos - Patras) - JT21

U18 Stellazzurra Rome v U18 Next Generation Team Patras (2022-03-25T13:30:00.000Z)

U18 Next Generation Team Patras picked up its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras as it rolled past host team U18 Promitheas Patras 94-56 in Group B. 

NGP rolls past Promitheas for first victory

NGP used a 16-3 run in the first quarter to take control and never let up in moving to 1-1 as it held Promitheas to 31.9% on two-point shots and 23.5% on three-pointers. Ben Saraf led NGP in scoring with 19 points, Konstantinos Lagos and Alexandros Samontourov both scored 15 points, Pacome Dadiet had 10 points and Peteris Pinnis added 6 points and 11 rebounds. Tunde Fasasi was the only Promitheas player to score in double figures with 11 points. The host team dropped to 0-2 in the tournament.

Illan Pietrus scored the first four points of the game and it was 6-0 before Ilias Kourepis hit a three-pointer for Promitheas’ first score. After Fasasi scored to make it 7-5, Samontourov picked up six points in a 16-3 run of NGP not allowing a basket and taking a 23-8 lead, which was 23-10 after 10 minutes. Saraf tallied five points early in the second quarter and NGP was leading 34-12. Fasasi countered with five points but Promitheas could not produce much offensively and trailed 42-23 at halftime.

NGP did not let up in the second half and Samontourov scored four points in a 10-2 run to extend the margin to 52-27. Nikolaos Plotas answered with seven straight points for Promitheas to get the gap to 54-34, but the selection team just rolled on and led 68-42 after 30 minutes. Saraf opened the final frame with a three-pointer and Promitheas was not able to get closer than 29 points the rest of the way.

Ben Saraf - U18 Next Generation Team Patras - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Next Generation Team Patras v U18 Promitheas Patras (2022-03-26T07:30:00.000Z)

Timotej Malovec - U18 Next Generation Team Patras - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 FC Barcelona never struggled in gathering a convincing 59-84 victory over U18 Olympiacos Piraeus to improve to 2-0 in Group A of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras. 

Barcelona never challenged in win over Olympiacos

The 2016 continental champion led by 15 points in the first quarter and never looked back in setting up a showdown with fellow 2-0 side U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv for a spot in Sunday’s first place game. Teodor Simic was Barcelona’s top scorer with 20 points while Martin Iglesias scored 16 points, Aaron Ganal had 12 points, Daniel Iruela tallied 10 points and Rafa Villar collected 10 points, 5 rebounds, 11 assists and 6 steals for a performance index rating of 32. Olympiacos lost its second straight game despite Thomas Zorbas picking up 16 points and Michael Sprintzios scoring 10 points.

Barcelona scored the first six points of the game before Sprintzios’ free throw for Olympiacos. Iglesias added two scores and Barcelona was ahead 5-13. After an Apostolos Nikolaidis three-pointer made it 10-15, Iglesias poured in six more points in a 2-12 surge for a 12-27 advantage, which was 19-29 after 10 minutes. Barcelona started the second quarter with a 2-11 run and the cushion swelled to 18-40. And the Spanish side added 10 straight points later in the period and led 24-50 at halftime.

Olympiacos came out of the locker room with a better start but still could only get the deficit to 33-55. Barcelona stepped it up with 10 straight points for a 32-point lead and was ahead 43-76 after 30 minutes. Nothing really changed in the fourth quarter as Barcelona’s reserves were also too strong for Olympiacos to really make a dent in the gap.

Martin Iglesias - U18 FC Barcelona - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Olympiacos Piraeus v U18 FC Barcelona (2022-03-25T18:30:00.000Z)

Rafa Villar - U18 FC Barcelona - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv grabbed its second victory in as many games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras as it eased past debutant U18 ZPA Tbilisi 44-93. 

Maccabi races past Tbilisi for 2-0 record   

Maccabi scored the first 7 points before Tbilisi had a free throw from Ilia Chavchandize more than 2 minutes into the game, and it was 1-10 before Luka Kutchukhidze scored the Georgian side’s first basket. Frederiks Meinarts hit a three-pointer and the deficit was 8-14. Maccabi started to get hot from the outside as Behar, Menchel and Omer Mayer all made three-pointers in a 2-16 run for a 10-30 lead after 10 minutes. Maccabi’s offense totally dried up in the second quarter, not scoring in the first 6 minutes while Ochkhikidze and Alavidze combined for 9 points in a 12-0 surge to pull within 22-30. Elad Bakshi finally got Maccabi on the scoreboard again and the team held Tbilisi scoreless for 4 minutes with 0-14 run and led 24-44 at the break.

Tbilisi failed to score the first 2 minutes of the second half and 4 points from Naveh increased the gap to 24-50. Maccabi kept limiting baskets and remained in control and scored the final 7 points of the third quarter to lead 34-64 after 30 minutes. Maccabi did not let up at all in the final frame with Doron bookending a 5-17 run with three-pointers to lead 39-81.

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv grabbed its second victory in as many games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras as it eased past debutant U18 ZPA Tbilisi 44-93. Maccabi survived a 6-minute scoreless stretch in the second quarter but still cruised to a 2-0 mark in Group A. Ofri Naveh paced five players in double figures with 16 points while Shachar Doron had 12 points, Tomer Agmon and Roi Behar both scored 11 points and Ido Menchel flirted with a triple double with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Luka Alavidze and Giorgi Ochkhikidze were Tbilisi’s leading scorer with 9 points in the loss, which dropped the debutant to 0-2 in the group.



Ofri Naveh - U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 ZPA TBILISI v U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv (2022-03-25T16:30:00.000Z)

Ido Menchel - U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy collected a victory in its maiden game at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras by knocking off the host side U18 Promitheas Patras 72-85 in Group B. The debutant from Finland’s capital hit five three-pointers in a 3-17 start to the fourth quarter to blow the game open. Ville Karhu led Helsinki with 21 points while Miro Little collected 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, Viljami Vartiainen scored 12 points and Tuukka Harsila chipped in 11 points. Tunde Fasasi was Promitheas’ leading scorer with 24 points and Nikolao Plotas added 14 points in the loss.

Helsinki grabs first ANGT win in first game, 72-85

Diawara scored 4 points and NGP jumped ahead 2-8. Pietrus drained a three-pointer and the selection team was leading 4-13. Stellazzurra found a rhythm and scored seven straight points to get closer. The Italian side committed some turnovers and Samontourov took advantage of them with 9 points in a 0-10 surge to give NGP an 11-23 lead. Visintin had 4 points at the other end and Stellazzurra trailed 16-26 after 10 minutes. Visintin picked up 5 more points and Stellazzurra trimmed the deficit to 25-28. Dadiet’s score made it 25-32 before Stellazzurra started getting stops and put together a 13-4 surge to close the first half ahead 38-36.

Pugliatti scored twice early in the second half and Stellazzurra was able stay ahead 48-46. Samontourov converted a three-point play and Dadiet hit a three-pointer and NGP was up 48-54. Pietrus and Dadiet added two free throws each and the advantage was up to 49-58 before Dadiet scored the final 4points of the third quarter and the margin was 53-63. Stellazzurra kept NGP scoreless for the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter but only got within 57-63. Pietrus’ free throws had NGP ahead 57-68 but Stellazzurra made its run with Innocenti scoring 6 points in a 12-2 run to close the gap to 69-70. And Visintin tied the game 75-75 with a layup with less than 3 minutes to play. After Diawara and Lucas Fresno swapped three-pointers, NGP failed to execute and Salvioni put Stellazzurra ahead 79-78 on a free throw with 48 seconds remaining. Pietrus committed an offensive foul and Salvioni converted a layup with 24 seconds for an 81-78 cushion. Innocenti missed both free throws with 10 seconds left but Salvioni grabbed the offensive rebound and iced the game on a free throw with 1.1 seconds left.

U18 Stellazzurra Rome rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to open its Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras with a thrilling 82-78 victory over U18 Next Generation Team Patras. Stellazzurra allowed just 1 basket in the final 7 minutes to come back for the Group B win. Matteo Visintin paced Stellazzurra with 19 points, Emmanuel Innocenti collected 18 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists, Fabrizio Pugliatti scored 15 points and Riccardo Salvioni added 11 points, including the last 4 of the game. Alexandros Samontourov was a force for NGP with 24 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and an index rating of 38 while Pacome Dadiet and Illan Pietrus both tallied 16 points and Mohamed Diawara had 14 points in the loss.

Stellazzurra rallies in fourth to beat NGP, 82-78

Matteo Visintin - U18 Stellazzurra Rome - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

Emmanuel Innocenti - U18 Stellazzurra Rome - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

After Fasani had two baskets to give the home side a 4-0 lead, Harsila scored the first points for Helsinki in the history of the competition and Karhu and Vartiainen both knocked down three-pointers for a 5-10 advantage. Promitheas answered with the next eight points to pull back ahead only to have Helsinki reclaim the lead at 16-17. And the score was deadlocked 20-20 after 10 minutes. Neither team was able to pull away in the second quarter though Fasani hit a three-pointer and Nikolao Vasileiou scored four points to make it 30-25. Helinski evened it at 32-32 but the Greek side was up 35-32 at the break.

The third quarter was more of the same but even more back and forth as Helsinki got three-pointers from Harsila, Rasmus Lindberg and Vartiainen while Ilias Kourepis and Fasasi were doing the damage for Promitheas. There were eight lead changes and five ties with the home side leading 61-59 after 30 minutes. Helsinki unleashed a three-point barrage in the fourth quarter with Little hitting back-to-back triples along with single three-pointers from Vartiainen, Karhu and Harsila in building a 64-76 lead with less than 5 minutes left. Promitheas failed to score in the first 4 minutes of the fourth quarter and could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Erik Muhonen - U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Promitheas Patras v U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy (2022-03-25T11:30:00.000Z)

Ville Karhu - U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21