Day 1 of the ANGT Patras, the second qualifying event of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament, featured six games in Greece on Friday as seven teams from six countries plus an international all-star team coached by Vassilis Spanoulis vying to reach the finals in Belgrade this spring. Check out some of the best young basketball talent in the world!
ANGT Patras Day 1: Barcelona and Maccabi win twice each
U18 FC Barcelona 78-64 U18 ZPA Tbilisi
Barcelona survived a fight in its opening game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Patras in knocking off debutant 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.
U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv 88-55 U18 Olympiacos Piraeus
Maccabi opened its ANGT Patras schedule 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.
U18 Helsinki Basketball Academy 72-85 U18 Promitheas Patras
Helsinki debuted at ANGT Patras by knocking off the host side Promitheas 72-85 in Group B. The debutant from Finland’s capital hit 5 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.
U18 Stellazzurra Rome 82-78 U18 Next Generation Team Patras
Stellazzurra rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to open its ANGT Patras dance card with a thrilling 82-78 victory over NGP. 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. Pacome Dadiet and Illan Pietrus both tallied 16 points and Mohamed Diawara had 14 points in the loss.
U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv 44-93 U18 ZPA Tbilisi
U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv grabbed its second strong ANGT Patras victory in as many games 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.