U18 Basket Brno locked up fifth place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana with a 77-95 victory over host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. Simon Svoboda poured in 26 points to lead Brno while Jakub Necas collected 24 points, 11 rebounds, 7 rebounds and 4 steals and Josef Svoboda chipped in 15 points. Tomas Belina paced Cedevita with 21 points; Filip Horvat had 14 points and Gasper Kocevar tallied 7 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Brno downs Cedevita for fifth place

Kocevar’s free throws gave Cedevita the first points of the game while Lukes Olbort and Josef Svoboda made three-pointers for a 4-8 early lead. Belina and Vukasin Todorovic both knocked down triples in a 10-0 run to put the home side ahead 14-8. Simon Svoboda poured in 7 points in a 0-16 surge for a 16-26 Brno advantage, which was 19-26 after 10 minutes. After Belina started the second quarter with a three-pointer, Brno scored the next 9 points to lead 22-35. Belina added 2 more triples and Cedevita trailed 33-38. Brno responded with 9 consecutive points and the cushion swelled to 33-47. The home side trailed 38-48 at halftime.

Belina sank another three-pointer to open the second half only to have Brno put together a 5-15 run to lead 46-63. Adam Lukes and Josef Svoboda both knocked down threes and the advantage grew to 51-73. Vice Zanki scored 6 points at the other end and Cedevita trimmed the deficit to 63-76 after 30 minutes. Cedevita needed nearly 4 minutes to score in the fourth quarter and Josef Svoboda’s three-pointer made it 63-81. The home team did not get closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v U18 BASKET BRNO (2022-04-17T10:00:00.000Z)

U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia captured seventh place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by knocking off U18 Orange1 Bassano 82-71. Maksymilian Wilczek drained 5 three-pointers in a 22-0 fourth-quarter run to decide the game. Wilczek fisnihed with 23 points, Mateusz Samiec scored 16 and Szymon Nowicki and Antoni Siewruk both added 13. Dame Sarr totaled 18 points for BASSANO, which failed to get a win in its first appearance. Andrea Cecchi added 10 points in the loss.

Gdynia grabs seventh place thanks to late three-pointers

Samiec opened the scoring for Gdynia with BASSANO tallying the next 7 points. Three-pointers from Siewruk and Wilczek put the Polish side ahead 13-9. Octavio Maretto hit from deep at the other end and Cecchi evened the game at 22-22. It was 24-22 after 10 minutes. Gdynia needed more than 2 minutes to score in the second quarter and BASSANO took a 24-28 lead. Jakub Andrzejewski pushed Gdynia back ahead 35-34 before BASSANO had the final 7 points of the first half and led 35-41 at the break.

After Cecchi started the second half and extended the lead to 8 points. Nowicki countered with 6 points and Samiec made a three-pointer in an 11-0 run to make it 46-43. BASSANO answered with 7 of the next 8 points. The lead changed hands again on a Nowicki three-pointer before Sarr knocked down a pair of triples and BASSANO led 55-60 after 30 minutes. Sarr started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and the cushion was 55-63. Then came the Wilczek barrage within 4 minutes in a 22-0 run to blow the game open, 77-63, with 2 minutes to play.

Mateusz Samiec - U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia v U18 Orange1 Bassano (2022-04-17T08:00:00.000Z)

Tiefing Diawara - U18 Orange1 Bassano - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Octavio Maretto - U18 Orange1 Bassano - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Maksymilian Wilczek - U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Andrea Cecchi - U18 Orange1 Bassano - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Jakub Bereszynski - U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Leonardo Valesin - U18 Orange1 Bassano - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Jakub Andrzejewski - U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana forward Lon Lican watches the best Slovenia has to offer on his club and observing what Cedevita’s first-team does prepared him to show what he can do at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana.

U18 Cedevita star Lican enjoys learning from Blazic

Lican helped Cedevita to a 1-2 record in the group phase of the ANGT Ljubljana, where he averaged 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.7 steals. Cedevita will face U18 Basket Brno for fifth place in the first ANGT event in the Slovenian capital.

 

“It’s a great honor to play at home,” said Lican, a native of Ljubljana who is making his ANGT debut. “When you see all of the great players who have played at this tournament it’s really special to me to be part of the ANGT.”

 

Cedevita and Lican learned their lessons from the tournament, losing to U18 Zalgiris Kaunas.

 

“You need to play physical and make more smart decisions,” said Lican about what he learned from the tournament.

 

Lican has played for several teams for Cedevita this season: the U17 and U19 youth sides as well the second team in the third division. In the U19 ABA tournament, Lican averaged 5.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.8 steals to help the club reach the Final Four. He also had a chance to watch some of the top Slovenian players on Cedevita’s pro team, including Zoran Dragic, Jaka Blazic, Edo Muric and Alen Omic.

 

“I really like to watch Jaka Blazic and learn some skills from him,” Lican said.

The 1.94-meter forward is excited about Cedevita’s upcoming 7DAYS EuroCup eighthfinals matchup with Turk Telekom Ankara.

 

“I think they are playing unselfish and tough. It’s nice to watch them having fun on and off the court. If they continue playing like this they really have good chances,” Lican said.

 

The youngster himself has already given his country a magical moment when he averaged 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals at the FIBA U16 European Challengers 2021 to help Slovenia qualify for the 2022 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup - the first time the country will play at the global showcase.

 

“If you play with your heart you can beat anyone,” Lican said about the country’s appearance in the continental tournament last summer. “It feels amazing, and I hope this trend continues with other generations.”

 

One look at Lican’s Twitter feed and it’s clear which Slovenian basketball player means the most to him - Luka Doncic.

 

“I like his decision making and his passing and his hunger for winning and improving,” Lican said.

 

And Doncic was integral to one of the country’s biggest accomplishments, winning the FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

 

“I was so excited and proud to be Slovenian,” he said.

 

Now Lican hopes he can give the club and country other highlights.

Lon Lican - U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Paulius Murauskas - U18 Zalgiris Kaunas - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

### [U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia 64-84 U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/game-report-angt-game7/?pageTitle=Homepage&historyUrl=/ngt/)

U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana picked up its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by knocking off U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia 64-84 to improve to 1-1 in Group A. NGL held Gdynia scoreless for the first 3 minutes of the fourth quarter to pull away and forced 26 Gdynia turnovers. Halvin Dzellat paced the selection team with 14 points while Urban Kroflic had 12 points, Elijah Ndi scored 11 points and Alvaro Folgueiras chipped in 9 points and 11 rebounds. Szymon Nowicki scored 14 points to lead Gdynia, which dropped to 0-2 in the group. Jakub Andrzejewski had 13 points, Maksymilian Wilczek added 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals and Tymoteusz Sternicki tallied 10 points in the loss.

### [U18 Zalgiris Kaunas 68-53 U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/zalgiris-rides-second-half-to-second-win/?pageTitle=Homepage&historyUrl=/ngt/)

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas remained perfect at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana with a 68-53 victory over host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Group A. Zalgiris opened the second half on a 17-2 run and carried that momentum to the win for a 2-0 record despite committing 28 turnovers. Motiejus Krivas collected 17 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks while Paulius Murauskas tallied 12 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks and Kajus Kublickas scored 12 points. Cedevita dropped to 1-1 in the group despite Vukasin Todorovic scoring 14 points and Vice Zanki chipping in 12 points and 6 steals.

### [U18 Basket Brno 65-68 U18 ALBA Berlin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/alba-comes-back-to-beat-brno-for-second-win/?pageTitle=Homepage&historyUrl=/ngt/)

U18 ALBA Berlin grabbed its second victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by defeating U18 Basket Brno 65-68 and will play for third place in the event. ALBA came back from 13 points down and scored the final nine points of the game to finish Group B play with a 2-1 record. Rikus Schulte led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds, Nils Machowski collected 16 points and Linus Ruf chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds. Brno dropped to 1-2 in the group despite Jakub Necas scoring 19 points to go with 9 rebounds and 3 assists while Simon Svoboda scored 12 points.

### [U18 Real Madrid 86-73 U18 Orange1 Bassano](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/real-rights-past-bassano-remains-undefeated/?pageTitle=Homepage&historyUrl=/ngt/)

The reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid remained undefeated at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana as it defeated debutant U18 Orange1 Bassano 86-73 to finish Group B play with a 3-0 mark. Real, which had already secured a spot in Sunday’s first place game, executed better down the stretch to extend its winning streak in ANGT qualifying games to 16 dating back to the ANGT Munich in 2017-18. Jan Vide scored 17 points for the winners with Henri Veesaar collecting 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, Amadou Doumbia tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds, Eli Ndiaye adding 12 points and Kaya Shona Mutambirwa chipping in 10 points. The first-time participant BASSANO fell to 0-3 despite 18 points from Andrea Cecchi while Matteo Porto scored 13 points, Moussa Bamba had 10 points and Leonardo Valesin contributed 3 points and 11 assists.

### [U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana 65-68 U18 Zalgiris Kaunas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/zalgiris-grabs-win-sets-up-date-with-real-in-first-place-game/?pageTitle=Homepage&historyUrl=/ngt/)

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas booked a spot in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana first place game by fending off U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana 65-68 to take top honors in Group A. Motiejus Krivas secured the win with a tip-in basket and blocked shot in the final 13 seconds as Zalgiris finished group play at 3-0 and set up a date Sunday against reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid. Krivas ended with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks while Paulius Murauskas collected 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and Kajus Kublickas added 11 points. The winner of the first place game will secure a ticket to the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, where they will join U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne, U18 Stellazzurra Rome and U18 PFYM INSEP Paris, the first-placed finishers at the ANGT Belgrade, ANGT Patras and ANGT Varese, respectively. Urban Kroflic poured in 31 points in the loss but no other player scored in double figures as NGL dropped to 1-2.

### [U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 64-77 U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/ngt/news/gdynia-beats-hosts-for-first-win/)

U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia collected its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by defeating host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 64-77 and will play for seventh place. Gdynia finished the third quarter on an 8-22 run to finish Group A with a 1-2 record. Tymoteusz Sternicki and Jakub Bereszynski both scored 16 points while Szymon Nowicki collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Maksymilian Wilczek picked up 11 points. Lon Lican was Cedevita’s leading scorer with 13 points to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists while Vice Zanki scored 12 points and Vukasin Todorovic chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds in the loss.

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas is the only roadblock for U18 Real Madrid from taking first place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana as the two EuroLeague teams will face off in Sunday's first place game in the Slovenian capital. U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana will take on U18 ALBA Berlin for third place, host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana will play U18 Basket Brno for fifth place and U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia will square off against U18 Orange1 Bassano for seventh place.

ANGT Ljubljana, Day 2: Zalgiris to face Real in first place game

Luka Smitran - U18 Zalgiris Kaunas - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Gdynia tallied the first eight points of the game before Gasper Kocevar’s free throw after more than 2 minutes. Nowicki added five more points and it was 1-13 before Tomas Belina hit a three-pointer for the home side’s first basket. Bereszynski and Nowicki knocked down triples as well and the lead was 4-21. Cedevita went on an 8-2 spurt to pull within 12-23 and it was 12-24 after 10 minutes. Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes of the second quarter but Lican and Zanki both collected five points in a 16-4 run to even the game 30-30. And Filip Horvat’s three-pointer had the home side up 33-32 at the break.

EB ANGT Ljubljana R3 Highlights: U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana-U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia

Horvat and Todorovic both knocked down three-pointers as the home side pushed its lead to 42-34. Gdynia turned the game around with Bereszynski scoring eight points in a 6-17 run to pull ahead 48-51. And Sternicki triple gave Gdynia the lead 50-56 after 30 minutes. Todorovic scored four points to get Cedevita within 56-61 only to have Sternicki tally four points at the other end and the lead was double figures 56-67. Zanki’s three-point play trimmed the deficit to 61-69 but Gdynia answered with the next five points to finish off the hosts’ hopes.

U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia collected its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by defeating host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 64-77 and will play for seventh place. Gdynia finished the third quarter on an 8-22 run to finish Group A with a 1-2 record. Tymoteusz Sternicki and Jakub Bereszynski both scored 16 points while Szymon Nowicki collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Maksymilian Wilczek picked up 11 points. Lon Lican was Cedevita’s leading scorer with 13 points to go with 8 rebounds and 6 assists while Vice Zanki scored 12 points and Vukasin Todorovic chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds in the loss.

Gdynia beats hosts for first win

U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia (2022-04-16T18:00:00.000Z)

U18 GAK Basketball Academy Gdynia celebrates - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

Zalgiris grabs win, sets up date with Real in first place game

Krivas opened the scoring with a three-point play and Joshua Bonga’s triple put Zalgiris ahead 2-6. Kroflic sparked NGL’s first run with five points to take the lead 11-10. Murauskas picked up three points at the other end and Bonga scored for a 14-19 lead, which was 16-19 after 10 minutes. Murauskas scored three points early in the second quarter and the advantage was 18-24. NGL reeled off a 15-3 run - with Kroflic scoring eight points - to pull ahead 33-27. Zalgiris stopped the surge and was down 35-31 at halftime.

EB ANGT Ljubljana Round 3 Highlights: U18 NextGen Team Ljubljana-U18 Zalgiris Kaunas

Zalgiris came out of the locker room in style with Murauaskas, Mantas Laurencikas and Kublickas hitting three-pointers in a 0-15 run for a 35-46 lead. Kroflic hit a triple for NGL’s first points after more than 7 minutes. That started an 11-2 surge with Kroflic beating the buzzer with a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 46-48 after 30 minutes. Krolic drained another triple early in the fourth quarter and NGL was within 49-50. Zalgiris came up with a 3-11 run to open a 52-61 cushion. NGL would not give up as Bautista Rodriguez scored four points and Kroflic’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 63-66 with 86 seconds left. Two Halvine Dzellat free throws made it a one-point game but Krivas tipped in Bonga’s miss with 13 seconds left to make it 65-68. Krivas then blocked Kroflic’s shot at the other end and Dzellat just missed and Zalgiris secured the win.

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas booked a spot in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana first place game by fending off U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana 65-68 to take top honors in Group A. Motiejus Krivas secured the win with a tip-in basket and blocked shot in the final 13 seconds as Zalgiris finished group play at 3-0 and set up a date Sunday against reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid. Krivas ended with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks while Paulius Murauskas collected 16 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and Kajus Kublickas added 11 points. The winner of the first place game will secure a ticket to the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Belgrade, where they will join U18 ASVEL Villeurbanne, U18 Stellazzurra Rome and U18 PFYM INSEP Paris, the first-placed finishers at the ANGT Belgrade, ANGT Patras and ANGT Varese, respectively. Urban Kroflic poured in 31 points in the loss but no other player scored in double figures as NGL dropped to 1-2.

Mantas Laurencikas - U18 Zalgiris Kaunas - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

U18 Next Generation Team Ljubljana v U18 Zalgiris Kaunas (2022-04-16T16:00:00.000Z)

Real rights past BASSANO, remains undefeated

Nikolas Cebrian’s three-pointer opened the scoring for Real with Porto hitting a triple among five points as BASSANO was up 5-7. Real reeled off nine straight points - four each by Vide and Ndiaye - to move ahead 14-7. Bamba scored four points at the other end and the score was 18-13 after 10 minutes. Real did not let up in the second quarter with Doumbia scoring six points in a 16-3 run to break the game open 35-18. Cecchi scored seven points at the other end and Matteo Rinaldin added a three-pointer as BASSANO was down 41-28 at halftime.

EB ANGT Ljubljana Round 3 Highlights: U18 Real Madrid-U18 Orange 1 Bassano

After Ndiaye’s three-pointer to start the second half, Octavio Maretto and Tiefing Diawara both drained triples as BASSANO was within 44-36. Ndiaye followed with another triple and Mutambirwa converted a three-point play as Real surged ahead 54-39. Cecchi sparked a 0-9 spurt to pull within six points. Real used its depth of weapons with Veesaar scoring six points to remain ahead 63-54 after 30 minutes. BASSANO failed to score for nearly 3 minutes and four points from Vide extended the cushion to 71-58. Porto drained two three-pointers but the Italian side could not get the stops on defense as Doumbia scored four points and Cebrian hit a triple to lead 79-68 with just more than 2 minutes left. Sarr responded with a three-pointer of his own only to have Veesaar convert inside after a timeout and Real made five of six free throws to seal the win.

The reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid remained undefeated at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana as it defeated debutant U18 Orange1 Bassano 86-73 to finish Group B play with a 3-0 mark. Real, which had already secured a spot in Sunday’s first place game, executed better down the stretch to extend its winning streak in ANGT qualifying games to 16 dating back to the ANGT Munich in 2017-18. Jan Vide scored 17 points for the winners with Henri Veesaar collecting 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, Amadou Doumbia tallying 13 points and 13 rebounds, Eli Ndiaye adding 12 points and Kaya Shona Mutambirwa chipping in 10 points. The first-time participant BASSANO fell to 0-3 despite 18 points from Andrea Cecchi while Matteo Porto scored 13 points, Moussa Bamba had 10 points and Leonardo Valesin contributed 3 points and 11 assists.

Henri Veesaar - U18 Real Madrid - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

U18 Real Madrid v U18 Orange1 Bassano (2022-04-16T14:00:00.000Z)

ALBA comes back to beat Brno for second win

Lukas Olbort’s two free throws started the scoring for Brno with two Machowski foul shots giving ALBA its first lead 2-3. Josef Svoboda hit a three-pointer at the other end and a triple from Adam Lukes made it 12-9. Machowski answered from deep but Necas scored four points and the Czech side led 18-14 after 10 minutes. Jan Polivka knocked down two three-pointers and the lead grew to 26-16. Two scores from Martin Studnicky increased the margin to 32-20 and Matej Rychtecky’s three-pointer had Brno up 37-24. ALBA finished the first half in better fashion and trailed 41-32 at the break.

EB ANGT Ljubljana Round 3 Highlights: U18 Basket Brno-U18 ALBA Berlin

The German side continued the momentum in the second half with the first five points. After failing to score for more than 3 minutes, Necas picked up two baskets and Rychtecky’s triple pushed the lead to 48-39. ALBA fought back with a 2-11 run to even the game 50-50. Simon Svoboda answered with a three-pointer and Brno was up 57-53 after 30 minutes. Brno could not find a rhythm in the fourth quarter, going scoreless for the first 6 minutes and Machowski pushed ALBA ahead 57-59. Necas finally scored for Brno and he added an and-one and dunk before Simon Svoboda’s free throw for a 65-59 lead with under 2 minutes to play. ALBA went scoreless for more than 5 minutes but Machowski drained back-to-back three-pointers from the left corner to even the game 65-65 with 42 seconds left. After Rapieque split two free throws with 26 seconds remaining, Polivka turned the ball over and Schulte converted two from the line with 5.2 seconds left to secure the win.

U18 ALBA Berlin grabbed its second victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana by defeating U18 Basket Brno 65-68 and will play for third place in the event. ALBA came back from 13 points down and scored the final nine points of the game to finish Group B play with a 2-1 record. Rikus Schulte led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds, Nils Machowski collected 16 points and Linus Ruf chipped in 11 points and 9 rebounds. Brno dropped to 1-2 in the group despite Jakub Necas scoring 19 points to go with 9 rebounds and 3 assists while Simon Svoboda scored 12 points.

Nils Machowski - U18 ALBA Berlin - ANGT Ljubljana (photo Marin Susic) - JT21

U18 BASKET BRNO v U18 ALBA Berlin (2022-04-16T12:00:00.000Z)

Kublickas opened the game for Zalgiris with a three-pointer while Todorovic scored the next five points. There were three more lead changes and Murauskas made it 11-8. Zalgiris struggled to find its rhythm, failing to score for more than 3 minutes with Lon Lican draining a triple at the other end for Cedevita, which led 13-17 after 10 minutes. Zalgiris needed more than 3 minutes to score in the second quarter but Cedevita only had a Tomas Belina three-pointer to make it 13-20. Kublickas converted a three-point to cut the deficit to 18-20. After Zanki and Joshua Bonga both hit triples Rok Popovic had Cedevita ahead 25-31. Zalgiris kept Cedevita scoreless for the final 2 minutes and Emilis Bartninkas hit a three-pointer and Krivas converted a three-point play to give Zalgiris the lead 32-31 at the break.

Zalgiris continued the momentum going in the second half with the first five points for a 37-31 lead. Todorovic finally got Cedevita on the board, but the Lithuanian powerhouse kept up the pressure with Petras Pedegimas’ three-pointer starting a 12-0 run for a 49-33 advantage. Zalgiris’ offense went cold and Cedevita scored 10 straight points to close within 49-43. Mantas Laurencikas’ three-pointer snapped the drought and Bonga put Zalgiris ahead 54-44 after 30 minutes. Bartninkas gave Zalgiris the lead 56-44 as Cedevita went more than 2 minutes without a score. Todorovic’s three-pointer trimmed the gap to 56-49 but Murauskas punched back with a triple of his own to re-establish a double-digit lead and start a 10-2 run over the next 6 minutes to lead 66-51. All told, Cedevita scored just four points in the final 7 minutes.

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas remained perfect at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Ljubljana with a 68-53 victory over host side U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Group A.  Zalgiris opened the second half on a 17-2 run and carried that momentum to the win for a 2-0 record despite committing 28 turnovers. Motiejus Krivas collected 17 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks while Paulius Murauskas tallied 12 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks and Kajus Kublickas scored 12 points. Cedevita dropped to 1-1 in the group despite Vukasin Todorovic scoring 14 points and Vice Zanki chipping in 12 points and 6 steals.

Zalgiris rides second half to second win

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas v U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-04-16T10:00:00.000Z)