Real Madrid defends ANGT L’Hospitalet crown!

Reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid retained its title at the Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet by prevailing in a slugfest with fellow Spanish giant U18 FC Barcelona Lassa 50-48 to book its ticket for the 2015-16 EB AGNT Finals in Berlin this spring. Dino Radoncic collected 16 points as Madrid went undefeated and repeated its victory over Barcelona from last season’s ANGT L'Hospitalet championship game. Samba Ndiaye tallied 7 points and 16 rebounds for Madrid, for whom Miki Fons secured the victory with a steal with 3 seconds to play. Felipe Dos Anjos chipped in 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks and was named MVP of the ANGT L’Hospitalet. Sergi Martinez scored 10 points in the loss for Barcelona, Atoumane Diagne had 4 points and 11 rebounds and All-Tournament Team member Aleix Font added 8 points.

It was clear from the outset that this was going to be a tight battle. Martinez struck first for Barcelona with Dos Anjos scoring at the other end and Ndiaye’s free throw giving Madrid its first lead, 3-2. Both offenses struggled to deal with the opposing size on defense, resulting in just one basket over a three-minute stretch – Martinez’s layup to pull ahead 3-4. Acoydan McCarthy pushed Madrid back ahead and Ndiaye made it 7-4. Barcelona took advantage of a two-minute Madrid drought to nose ahead 7-9 thanks to scores from Martinez. Madrid kept Barcelona off the scoreboard for the final two minutes of the quarter and Radoncic’s three-point play gave Madrid a 12-9 lead after 10 minutes. Maxim Esteban evened the game with a triple to start the second quarter and Raimon Carrasco made it 12-14. But Radoncic knocked down his first three-pointer to push Madrid back ahead. The lead switched hands three times and then Radoncic drained another three and Francisco Salvador followed to give Madrid a 23-20 lead. Diagne answered with 4 straight points to start six straight lead changes as Dos Anjos had Madrid up 29-28. Radoncic scored again and added his third three-pointer with 3 seconds left in the half as Madrid went into the locker room ahead 34-28.

Madrid failed to convert on its first six possessions of the second half, while Barcelona got 4 points from Font in a 0-8 run to start the third quarter. Dos Anjos finally scored for Madrid with 5:31 minutes left in the quarter and the champs locked down on defense, keeping Barcelona scoreless for 4:43. In the meantime, Ndiaye put back an offensive rebound and Ignacio Ballespin converted a Radoncic pass to lead 40-36. Esteban’s three-ball stopped the Barcelona drought and closed the gap to 40-39. But Salvador put back an offensive rebound just before the buzzer and Madrid led 43-39 after 30 minutes. Salvador added free throws and Radoncic scored again to push the Madrid advantage to 48-39. Esteban finally scored for Barcelona at the 7:13-minute mark and then neither team could score until Font’s three made it 48-44 with 4:30 minutes remaining – and a Madrid time out. Pol Figueras followed with a triple of his own to bring Barcelona within 1. Ballespin answered with a huge baseline jumper and Font pulled back 1 point with a free throw to make it 50-48 with 3:31 minutes to go. Neither team could score down the stretch and Barcelona had a final chance after a Madrid miss with 14 seconds left. But Fons stole the ball from Figueras with 3 seconds left to secure the title.