Real Madrid secured its first title in the history of the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT by unseating the reigning champion Crvena Zevzda Telekom Belgrade with a 73-70 victory in the 2015 final. Jonathan Barreiro led the way with 19 points for Madrid, which became the ninth club to win the competition. Luka Doncic added 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists while Santiago Yusta had 15 points and Emanuel Cate collected 11 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks. The last time the home team won the ANGT trophy was INSEP Paris in 2010. Madrid is the fifth straight new first-time winner of the tournament since FMP repeated its crown in 2009. Crvena Zvezda missed its chance of being the first repeat champion since FMP and fourth multiple-time winner. Aleksandar Aranitovic scored 26 points for the Serbian club while Vojislav Stojanovic collected 15 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks, and Borisa Simanic had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Cate scored Madrid’s first two baskets before Simanic’s three-pointer gave Crvena Zvezda its first lead at 4-5. Aranitovic nailed a three-ball as well and Aleksa Radanov converted a three-point play as the champs opened a 5-13 advantage. Crvena Zvezda went scoreless for the next 3:29 minutes but Madrid had its scoring issues and only got to within 9-13. Nikola Rakicevic finally got Crvena Zvezda back on the board but Zvezda called a timeout after Doncic hit a three-ball to make it 12-15. After a Zvezda turnover, Madrid evened the game 15-15 on a trey from Andres Rico. Stojanovic answered right back and the Crvena Zvezda defense held the home side without a point for the final 1:35 minutes of the quarter. Zvezda hit the final seven points of the period and was up 15-22. Barreiro came off the Madrid bench and nailed a three-pointer to start the second quarter. Stojanovic re-established the six-point advantage but the Zvezda offense sputtered. Madrid took advantage of that and grabbed the lead 28-24 on three-balls from Doncic and Barreiro and a Doncic basket. Radanov snapped the Zvezda drought and Stojanovic’s trey made it a one-point game 30-29. Madrid would not let the champs back ahead and another Barreiro three-pointer had the Spanish side up 37-33. The Madrid lead was 39-37 at intermission.

Neither team scored for the first two and a half minutes of the second half until Cate’s basket. Crvena Zvezda finally hit a three-pointer against the Madrid zone defense by Aranitovic. Another trey by Stojanovic had the game knotted at 43-43. Doncic’s triple broke the deadlock and Yusta’s three-pointer had Madrid ahead 49-43. Aranitovic and Stojanovic cut the gap to two points but Rico answered with a three-ball and Samba Ndiaye put back an offensive rebound for a 54-47 Madrid cushion - and a Zvezda timeout with two minutes to play in the third quarter. Ndiaye pushed the lead to nine points on a steal and breakaway dunk and Barreiro’s three-point play had Madrid up 59-49 with 40 seconds left in the third quarter, which ended with Zvezda trailing 59-51.

Two Barreiro free throws extended the margin back to 10 points and Yusta’s two from the line increased the lead to 65-54 with seven minutes to play. Crvena Zvezda got the ball inside with a basket by Nikola Popovic and then Simanic got a tough hook to fall and converted a layup to get the Serbian side to within 66-60. After two failed Madrid offensive trips down the court, Aranitovic made it a four-point contest 66-62 with just more than four minutes to play. Ndiaye came up with a big putback for Madrid but two more Aranitovic foul shots trimmed it to 68-65 inside the three-minute mark. Doncic was fouled and split two free throws but Stojanovic missed both of his foul shots at the other end. That left Yusta to hit two free throws for a 71-65 lead with 1:54 to play. Aranitovic stepped up with a layup but he too missed the bonus free throw for a 71-67 scoreline. Doncic turned the ball over but atoned for his mistake by drawing an offensive foul on Stojanovic, his fifth of the game. Madrid failed to convert on two chances and Aranitovic made them pay with a three-pointer to make it 71-70 with 14 seconds to play. Zvezda fouled Barreiro, who made both free throws with 10.4 seconds remaining, leaving what looked like the final possession for the still-reigning champs. Zvezda however could not inbounds the ball as Rico stole it. Yusta failed to ice the game missing both free throws with 6.8 seconds to giving Zvezda one more chance. But Aranitovic’s long three was just off-target, sending the home fans into celebration.