Union Olimpija Ljubljana held on for an 85-91 victory over FIATC Joventut Badalona in the first Group B game at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT in L’Hospitalet. Blaz Mesicek had a monster game for Olimpija with 26 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals, one block, 13 fouls drawn and a 46 performance index rating. Nejc Martincic added 15 points for the winners, who improved to 1-0 in the group. Vlatko Cancar collected eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to go with five rebounds and five assists, Aljaz Stopar chipped in 11 points and Luka Kraljevic had 10 points. Joventut dropped to 0-1 despite 21 points, five rebounds and five assists from Nenad Dimitijevic while Xabi Lopez and Albert Real both scored 17 points.

Mesicek scored six points as Ljubljana opened 5-10 lead and he scored another basket to go up 9-14. Lopez’s three gave Joventut the lead 15-14 but Martincic answered right back with a three-ball and the team from the capital was up 19-21 after 10 minutes. Joventut tied the game to open the second quarter and after two more ties, Dimitijevic nailed a three-ball and layup for a 33-27 advantage. Trailing 35-30, Stopar sandwiched two three-pointers around a Mesicek layup for a 35-38 lead. Four Mesicek free throws pushed the cushion to 37-43 and Olimpija was ahead 42-47 at intermission.

Jan Strmcnik increased the gap to 42-49 but Joventut got back into the game with Dimitijevic hitting a three-ball and Real converting three layups for a 58-57 advantage. Martincic answered with a three-pointer, two free throws and a layup and then Ziga Jurcek knocked down a trey to complete a 1-10 run for a 59-67 advantage. Cancar then hit a triple at the third quarter buzzer for a 60-70 lead after 30 minutes. Martincic extended the margin to 60-72, but Joventut would not give up. Nikola Maric and Lopez nailed three-balls before a Maric layup cut the gap to 75-76 with four minutes left. Cancar punched back with two free throws and a layup and Olimpija was back up 75-80. A basket and three-point play by Mesicek increased the lead to 77-85. Dimitijevic and Lopez nailed three balls for Joventut and Lopez hit a layup and the deficit was just 85-87 with 13 seconds seconds left. But Concar and Strmcnik both made two free throws in the final stretch to ice the game.