Stellazzurra opens tournament with win over Ulm

U18 Stellazzurra Rome opened the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich with a convincing 91-65 victory over U18 ratiopharm Ulm. Abramo Canka collected 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists while Fedor Zugic scored 19 points with 7 rebounds, Ivan Onojaife had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks and Emanuel Adeola chipped in 10 points for Stellazzurra, which reached the 2018 ANGT Championship Game. Aleksa Bulajic and Igor Milicic both totalled 16 points for Ulm and Andrea Grbovic tallied 12 points in the Group A loss.

Leo Menalo scored the first points of the ANGT Munich with a three-pointer for Stellazzurra. Bulajic gave Ulm its first lead at 3-4 and the game remained tight with three lead changes as Canka made it 9-8. Ulm tied it three times and pulled ahead again on Moritz Heck’s three-ball for 17-19. And it was 19-21 after 10 minutes. Canka threw down back-to-back dunks as Stellazzura scored the first seven points of the second quarter. Canka and Adeola both added three-pointers as the Italian side used a 22-2 run to open a 41-23 advantage. Bulajic picked up four free throws at the other end in a 2-10 spurt to make it 43-33 and the score was 47-35 at the break. Stellazzurra had the better start to the second half with Lucas Maglietti’s layup making it 53-47. Bulajic knocked down a three-ball and Grbovic scored to get Ulm within 57-47. Stellazzurra punched back with a 13-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from Zugic and a trey from Adeola for a 70-47 advantage. And the cushion was 72-51 after 30 minutes. Milicic scored five points early in the fourth quarter to get the deficit to 73-60. Maglietti hit a triple and Canka had an and-one in a 9-0 surge for an 82-60 lead and decide the game for good.