U18 FC Barcelona Lassa started its Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet with a 71-80 overtime victory over U18 Brose Baskets Bamberg. Alex Font hit 4 three-pointers in scoring 22 points while Sergi Martinez added 20 points, Maxim Esteban had 11 points and Pol Figueras collected 8 points, 3 rebounds, 12 assists and 4 steals for Barcelona in the Group B encounter. Bamberg could not use a 57-37 rebounding advantage as the German side turned the ball over 27 times to just 6 assists. Isaac Bonga had 20 points and 9 rebounds but also 10 turnovers in the loss while Arnoldas Kulboka added 14 points. Lars Lagerpusch chipped in 7 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals with Moritz Sanders collecting 9 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists in a losing effort.

Atoumane Diagne scored the first points of the game for Barcelona and was matched by Bonga. After Diagne made it 2-6, Bonga knotted it at 6-6 and Kulboka’s triple had Bamberg ahead 9-6. Font scored 4 points in an 0-6 Barcelona run and the Spanish club was up 11-12 after 10 minutes. Nicolas Wolf’s put-back put Bamberg back in front and Kulboka nailed a long ball and jumper for a 20-16 cushion. Martinez was able to snap a nearly three-minute Barcelona scoreless drought but Felix Edwardsson’s put-back made it 24-19. Barcelona answered with an 0-11 run with three-balls from Font and Esteban to go up 24-30. Kulboka stopped the surge as Bamberg closed the first half with the final 6 points and the game was tied 30-30 at intermission.

Font came out hot in the second half with back-to-back three-balls and a jumper to complete an 0-10 run for a 30-40 Barcelona lead. Nils Hassfurther finally got Bamberg on the board with 7:12 minutes left in the third. Barcelona continued the strong play and Figueras knocked down a long ball as the lead swelled to 34-49. Edwardsson and Manuel Feuerpfeil both hit three-balls and the gap was down to 47-54 after 30 minutes following Sanders’ three-point play. Barcelona pushed the margin back out to 10 points 49-59 on a three-pointer from Raimon Carrasco with 7 minutes left. Bamberg refused to go down without a fight as Lagerpusch hit a free throw and put-back, Bonga added 2 baskets – the second a three-point play – and Kulboka scored inside to pull Bamberg within 59-60 inside of 4 minutes left. Martinez answered with a three-point play but Bonga came back with a free throw and a long three-pointer off the glass with the shot clock winding down to knot it at 63-63 with just more than a minute left. Both teams failed to convert in the crunch time of regulation. Martinez started overtime with a steal and fast break layup and Esteban followed with a three-pointer. Wolf was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul, which turned into a Figueras free throw and Font three-pointer for a 63-72 Barcelona lead. Bonga’s free throw was Bamberg’s first point with 3 minutes left but Bamberg could not stop Barcelona on offensive as Martinez twice hit inside layups to make it 66-76 with 1 minute to play. Bonga did make 2 free throws but Martinez scored again to finish the game.