Sirvydis's late heroics lead Rytas to EB ANGT title

In a thriller that came down to the final minute, U18 Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius won the 2017-18 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament championship. Rytas U18 Stellazzurra Rome 76-71 at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sunday morning to become the ANGT champion for the second time in club history. Rytas, which first won the title in 2012, became the fifth team to win multiple EB ANGT titles, joining Zalgiris Kaunas, CSKA Moscow, FMP Zeleznik and CFBB Paris. Deividas Sirvydis netted 5 of his 18 points in the final 36 seconds to seal his team's win after Stellazzurra rallied from a double-digit deficit to tie the game late. Marek Blazevic paced the winners with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Domantas Vilys scored 11 points for Rytas. Luca Conti led Stellazzurra with 22 points, Dalph Adem Panopio had 18 and Paul Eboua posted 17 points and 13 rebounds for Stellazzurra, which was the first Italian team to reach the title game since Montepaschi Siena in 2004.

Vilys got Rytas going with a driving layup and a three-pointer. Sirvydis added a bomb from downtown for a 9-2 lead. Stellazzurra's fiery guard Dalph Adem Panopio revived his team with a driving layup and a jumper. Once Eboua heated up with a power basket and a dunk, Stellazzurra closed the gap to 11-10. Eboua kept pushing Stellazzurra and his layup tied it at 16-16, but a close basket by Mykolas Astrauskas and a wild buzzer-beating triple by Sirvydis restored a 21-16 Rytas lead after 10 minutes. Luca Conti hit a jumper early in the second quarter, Eboua dunked and a three-pointer by Lorenzo Donadio tied it again, 23-23. Sirvydis insisted from downtown and got help from Blazevic and Sarunas Valunta to make it 35-28. Russel Tchewa hit a jump hook and Alessandro Cipolla split free throws, but Blazevic gave Rytas a 38-31 advantage at halftime.

Blazevic and Gediminas Mokseckas combined for all the points in a 6-0 run that gave Rytas its first double-digit lead, 44-31, right after the break. Eboua struck from beyond the arc and a three-point play by Conti gave Stellazzurra hope, but Blazevic kept pacing Rytas and free throws by Dilys made it 52-39 margin. Conti hit free throws and back-to-back three-pointers by Panopio brought Stellazzurra within 55-48. A jumper by Eboua and a tip-in by Erikas Jermolajevas fixed the score at 57-50 after 30 minutes. Rytas struggled to score early in the fourth quarter, while Panopio got Stellazzurra within 59-57 with less than seven minutes left. Blazevic hit 4 free throws and Sirvydis added an off-balance jumper, but Conti made it 67-65 with three minutes to go. A layup by Yannick Nsoza and a big basket by Panopio tied the game at 69-69 with a minute and a half to go. Sirvydis stepped up with the go-ahead three-pointer and free throws by Astrauskas sealed the outcome.