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

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv opened its Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras with a convincing 88-55 victory over U18 Olympiacos Piraeus in Group A. Maccabi scored the final 12 points of the first half and was never challenged the rest of the way in holding Olympiacos to just 3-of-23 on three-pointers (13.0%). Ido Iluz scored 16 points to lead Maccabi with Ofri Naveh picking up 14 points and Tomer Agmon adding 10 points in the win. Michael Sprintzios was Olympiacos’ top scorer with 13 points and Apostolos Nikolaidis and Thomas Zorbas both had 11 points in the defeat.

Maccabi eases past Olympiacos in first game, 88-55

Naveh scored the first four points of the game for Maccabi and Sprintzios answered with the next five for Olympiacos. Seven more lead changes followed before Iluz and Omer Mayer hit three-pointers to help Maccabi lead 20-15 after 10 minutes. Roi Behar and Ido Menchel also hit from deep as the Israeli side hit the first eight points of the second quarter to lead 28-15. Veniamin Amposi’s free throws ended a scoreless drought of more than 4 minutes and Sprintzios scored four more points to get Olympiacos within 33-25. But Shachar Doron and Iluz both hit three-pointers in a 12-0 close to the first half to lead 45-25 at the break.


Naveh scored four points in a 6-0 Maccabi run early in the second half to extend the margin to 51-27. Olympiacos tried to fight its way back into the game with Nikolaidis scoring four points but Maccabi had an answer every time and was up 64-38 after 30 minutes. Maccabi started the fourth quarter on a 12-4 run and the game was over for good.

Omer Mayer - U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv v U18 Olympiacos Piraeus (2022-03-25T09:30:00.000Z)

Adi Amos - U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 FC Barcelona survived a fight in its opening game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras in knocking off debutant U18 ZPA Tbilisi 78-64 in Group A. The 2016 continental champion Barcelona put the game away with a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter and forced the Georgian side into 25 turnovers. Rafa Villar paced four Barcelona players in double figures with 15 points while Andreas Holst scored 13 points, Dayan Nessah collected 12 points and 7 rebounds and Daniel Iruela added 11 points. Giorgi Ochkhikidze led Tbilisi with 19 points and Luka Alavidze picked up 18 points.

Barcelona fights off Tbilisi for opening win

Ochkhikidze hit a three-pointer to score the first points of the tournament - and the first points in the history of the competition for the team. Teodor Simic countered with six points in helping Barcelona build a 10-5 lead. Alavidze had four points at the other end and Tbilisi was within 13-11 before it was trailing 19-12 after 10 minutes. Tbilisi did not go away with Ochkhikidze hitting two more triples and it was 30-29. Barcelona finally was able to pull away a bit with a 16-3 close to the first half as Holst and Nessah combined for 11 points and the Spanish side was up 46-32 at the break.

Barcelona remained in control and was up 56-39 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Tbilisi tried to make things interesting with eight straight points to close within 56-47 and was down 58-47 after 30 minutes. The Georgian side scored the first points of the fourth quarter to get the deficit down to nine points again but Barcelona reeled off a 13-2 surge to put the game away for good 71-51.

Barcelona fights off Tbilisi for opening win, 78-64

Dayan Nessah - U18 FC Barcelona - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21

U18 FC Barcelona v U18 ZPA TBILISI (2022-03-25T07:30:00.000Z)

Roger Fabrega - U18 FC Barcelona - ANGT Patras (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - JT21