U18 Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas booked its spot in the Semifinals of the EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L’Hospitalet by beating U18 Union Olimpija Ljubljana 68-53. The victory improved Gran Canaria’s record in Group A to 2-0 and dropped Olimpija to 0-2. The win also means U18 FC Barcelona Lassa reached the Semifinals with its 2-0 record. Gran Canaria, which will play Barcelona in the final Group B game for first place, got 17 points and 15 rebounds from Biram Faye while Javi Lopez had 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Olimpija was paced by Nemanja Scekic’s 12 points and 10 rebounds. Olimpija will face 0-2 U18 ALBA Berlin for third place in Group A.

Olimpija trailed just 8-6 when Gran Canaria used some hot shooting from the outside with two three-pointers from Lopez in a 13-0 run for a 21-6 lead. The cushion was 25-9 after 10 minutes. Olimpija used some tough defense and the three-ball to get back into the game as Blaz Janezic, Fin Drazovic and David Kralj all nailed long balls in an 0-14 start to the second quarter, cutting the margin to 25-23. Gran Canaria finally scored after four minutes on a three-point play from Lopez and Faye’s presence inside helped the Spanish side pull ahead again 38-29 at the break. Olimpija lost its leader Kralj to an ankle injury midway through the third quarter and Maksim Gorbachov tried his best to keep his team close but the combo of Faye and Babacar Fam was too much and Gran Canaria led 53-38 after three quarters. Olimpija was not ready to go down without a fight and Drazovic’s three-pointer made it 55-49 with 5 minutes left. But Jovan Kljajic and Luis Melian drained three-balls of their own and the lead was 61-49 to deliver the knockout punch.