U18 Alba Berlin wasted a 21-point lead but still captured fifth place at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament - Marko Ivkovic Belgrade by knocking off fellow German side U18 FC Bayern Munich 75-72. Ferdinand Zylka led the way for Alba with 30 points while Bennet Hundt scored 13 points and Philipp Herkenhoff chipped in 11 points in the win. Bayern claimed sixth place with Vladimir Pinchuk scoring 22 points while Mario Hack-Vazquez and Aaron Kayser both scored 10 points and Nelson Weidemann collected 9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in the loss. Bayern used a 0-21 fourth quarter run to tie the game late but failed to get the win in the end.

Alba started with the first 5 points of the game - all of them from Hundt - before Bayern finally got on the scoreboard through Robin Rajcic after more than 3 minutes of action. Pinchuk nailed 2 three-pointers to give Bayern its first lead 7-8. Badu Buck put Alba back ahead and Lucas Skibbe’s trey made it 12-8. Bayern tallied 5 straight points to jump back in front 14-15. Rijad Avdic countered with 2 straight baskets to start an 8-0 spurt for a 22-15 lead, which was 22-17 after 10 minutes. Noah Kandem opened the second quarter to trim the gap to 3 points but Bayern went the next 3 minutes without a point though Alba could only manage a 24-19 lead. Pinchuk helped get the gap down to 28-27 but Zylka nailed 2 three-pointers to get Alba up 34-29. And Alba used a 9-0 run to open a 43-32 gap, which was 43-34 at intermission.

Bayern struggled offensively to start the second half, going scoreless for the first 4 minutes while Zylka had 5 points in an 11-0 Alba run to go up 54-34. Pinchuk’s free throws finally put Bayern on the scorer’s list but it only scored 1 basket in the next 4 minutes and Alexander Moeller put Alba ahead 58-39. The cushion was 58-42 after 30 minutes. Herkenhoff and Zylka both knocked down three-balls to start the fourth quarter - and increase the advantage to 63-42. Bayern would not lay and charged back into the game with an 0-21 run to knot the game at 63-63 on Weidemann’s layup. Zylka snapped the 7:32-minute scoreless drought and then knocked down another jumper for a 67-63 lead with 54 seconds to play. Hack-Vazquez answered with a corner three but Zylka punched right back with a three-ball of his own to lead 70-66 with 21 seconds left. And Zykla added 4 of 4 free throws in the final 14 seconds to ice the win.