Real delivers late knockout to defeat ALBA

Reigning continental champion U18 Real Madrid defeated U18 ALBA Berlin 78-97 in the final group game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich but needed a late knockout punch to finish the job. Tristan Tsakilis-Vouktsevits scored 20 points while Eli John Ndiaye tallied 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 1 block for Real, which won the ANGT Munich the last two seasons and will face U18 Stellazzurra Rome in the first-place game. Konstantin Kostadinov added 14 points and Urban Klavzar chipped in 12 points. While Real took top honors in Group B with a 3-0 record, ALBA finished group at 0-3 despite Nolan Adekunle scoring 21 points, Erik Penteker hitting for 16 points and Christoph Tilly adding 11 points.

Tsakilis-Vouktsevits scored 6 points as Real opened a 4-10 lead. Dan Duscak added four points in a 3-13 run for a 9-23 advantage. Anton Quinkler knocked down a triple for ALBA, which trailed 14-27 after 10 minutes. Evans Rapieque also hit a three-pointer for ALBA but Tsakilis-Vouktsevits tallied 9 points as Real pushed the cushion to 19-31. Adekunle picked up 10 straight points for ALBA and the margin was 33-46. The Spanish giant countered with another punch with Kostadinov and Klavzar both knocking down three-balls in a 0-9 run for a 33-57 lead and it was 38-60 at the break. Adekunle added a triple early in the fourth as ALBA tried to get back into the game but still was down 48-64. Juan Nunez and Klavzar both drained long balls in a 5-13 spurt as Real increased the gap to 53-76. And the cushion was 57-78 after 30 minutes. ALBA’s defense held Real scoreless for more than 3 minutes to move within 65-78. Adekunle and Penteker downed back-to-back triples and ALBA was down just 71-80 with 5 minutes left. It was still 75-84 when Real delivered the knockout with a 0-13 spurt to make it 75-97.