Gran Canaria reaches date with Unicaja in first-place game

U18 Herbalife Gran Canaria advanced to the first place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia with a 72-55 victory over U18 FC Barcelona. Ruben Lopez scored 23 points with 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals as Gran Canaria will face U18 Unicaja Malaga for a ticket to the ANGT Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four in Cologne, Germany in May. Khalifa Diop picked up 13 points and 15 rebounds and Jean Montero added 11 points, 4 assists and 3 steals for Gran Canaria, which finished Group B play at 2-1. Barcelona also had a 2-1 record but dropped the game despite Ibou Badji picking up 15 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. Gael Bonilla chipped in 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in the loss for Barcelona, which made just 1-of-23 three-pointers for 4.3 percent.

Bonilla and Agustin Ubal combined for 10 points in helping Barcelona open a 4-12 lead. Gran Canaria scored the next six points but still trailed 14-18 until Khalifa Diop tallied 5 points in a 7-0 run to close the first quarter with a 21-18 lead. After Pol Mulio opened the second quarter with a basket, Gran Canaria held Barcelona scoreless for nearly 7 minutes and Lopez had 5 points in a 13-0 run for a 33-20 lead. Badji stopped the drought but Lopez drained a triple as the bulge grew to 36-22. And the score was 38-25 at the break. Badji sparked a 2-10 start to the second half for Barcelona with 6 points and a block to get within 41-35. Barcelona cut the gap to four points but Lopez converted a three-point play and Montero drained a trey and Gran Canaria was up 54-43 after 30 minutes. Gran Canaria continued the run with the first 7 points of the final frame to extend the cushion to 61-43. Barcelona missed four free throws on one possession and Perez nailed a three-ball to start a 7-2 surge for a 68-48 lead with 2 minutes left. And Barcelona could not get closer than 16 points the rest of the way, knowing it could still reach the first-place game if it lost by 10 points or fewer.