Maccabi beats Cluj for first win, will play for fifth place

U18 Maccabi Tel Aviv picked up its first victory at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade by fending off U18 U-BT Cluj Napoca 82-73 and will next play for fifth place. Ido Iluz scored 23 points including the late dagger four-point play for Maccabi, which finished Group A play with a 1-2 record. Ido Menchel collected 19 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists and both Yuval Levin and Jonatan Guter scored 10 points in the win. Stefan Grasu collected 24 points, 13 rebounds, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks to lead Cluj, which dropped to 0-3 in its first appearance in the competition. Modibo Diaby also had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Dragos Lungu picked up 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists and Alexandru Pasca scored 10 points.

The first quarter was rather low scoring with Grasu scoring the first five points of the game. Guter had a three-pointer to start the scoring for Maccabi. Diaby had four points for Cluj, which led 7-12 and then 9-14 after 10 minutes. David Lapuste opened the second quarter from long range as the lead grew to eight points. It was 14-21 before Iluz hit two three-pointers in a 12-0 run to put Maccabi up 26-21. Grasu came up with a three-point play in a 0-6 answer as Cluj was back ahead 26-27. Menchel drained two triples at the other end and Maccabi had taken a 37-27 advantage, which was 37-30 at the break.

Menchel extended the lead to 43-32 early in the third quarter and a Niv Avidan three-pointer made it 48-35. Cluj rushed back into the game with a 4-11 run to pull within 55-49 but was still trailing 60-55 after 30 minutes. Grasu and Pasca knocked down triples and Cluj jumped ahead 61-63 early in the final frame. Maccabi responded with the next seven points before Pasca and Luca Nastrut knocked down three-pointers as Cluj was up 69-71. Maccabi’s defense came up big with nearly 3 minutes of no score for Cluj and Menchel scored five points for a 76-71 lead. And Iluz delivered the dagger four-point play with 24 seconds for an 80-73 lead.