Real Madrid captured its second straight ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT title in L’Hospitalet by easing past previously unbeaten rival FC Barcelona 87-55 to also secure a spot at the Finals at the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in Madrid in May. Madrid’s 15-year-old star Luka Docic lived up to his billing once again by collecting 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn for a performance index rating of 25 - and a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Samba Ndiaye, who also made the All-Tournament Team, helped Madrid dominate the glass, outrebounding Barcelona 54-29, with 6 points and 14 rebounds, while Santiago Yusta poured in 15 points and Jonathan Barreiro and Andres Rico both scored 12 points and Felipe Dos Anjos chipped in 9 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. Madrid joins Stellazzurra Basketball Academy Rome in the eight-team Finals field at the Final Four. One of the few Barcelona players who was able to hold his own against Madrid was Stefan Peno, who picked up 18 points and 2 steals while Jaume Sorolla had 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in the loss. Joining Doncic and Ndiaye on the All-Tournament Team were MVP Blaz Mesicek of Union Olimpija Ljubljana, Amine Noua of ASVEL Lyon Villeurbanne and Xabi Lopez of FIATC Joventut Badalona.

Doncic opened the scoring for Madrid and Nedim Dedovic scored off an offensive rebound to even it at 2-2. Doncic went down hard on a rebound and missed his free throws after the foul before Yusta hit a layup and Ndiaye scored inside for a 6-2 lead. Yusta made a layup and a triple. Doncic followed with a tip-in and tough layup as Madrid went ahead 15-2. Pol Figueras and Dedovic both knocked down jumpers as Barcelona slowly found a rhythm and got within 16-6. It was 18-8 after Bartolome free throws and Atoumane Diagne’s dunk made it 20-10. Eric Martinez got the margin down to 20-12 and Barcelona was behind 22-14 after 10 minutes. Barcelona’s rhythm was gone again early in the second quarter while Barreiro drained a pair of three-pointers to increase the Madrid advantage to 28-14. Peno free throws finally got Barcelona on the board after nearly three minutes played, but it was Doncic’s turn to knock down a three as Madrid went ahead 31-16. Madrid then went inside as Dos Anjos scored in the lane to make it 33-16. Sorolla managed a basket for Barcelona to cut the score to 33-18. But Daniel De La Rua hit a three-pointer and Barreiro got out on the break for a dunk and a 39-18 lead. Peno tried to keep Barcelona close with a free throw and a driving layup. But Dos Anjos scored two tough baskets inside and then blocked a shot, leading to a Doncic three-point play – and a 46-22 cushion at intermission.

Emanuel Cate hit free throws and Ndiaye threw down a dunk for a 50-24 lead. Madrid was held scoreless for 2:42 minutes and Barcelona was able to cut the deficit to 50-31 as Dedovic hit a jumper, Roger Renau nailed a three and Alejandro Mazaira put back an offensive rebound. Madrid charged back ahead with a 6-2 run to make it 57-33. Barcelona once again was able to find a bit more rhythm on offense, but could not come up with defensive stops as the lead fluctuated between 22 and 25 points until 4 free throws by Rico gave Madrid a 68-41 advantage after three quarters. Little changed in the fourth as deep Madrid continued to expand the lead against predominantly Peno, who scored Barcelona’s first three baskets in the quarter, but Madrid still led 77-48. Barcelona did not get closer the rest of the game and Madrid increased the lead to 34 points.