FMP will get a chance to protect its title in the grand final of the Nike International Junior Tournament after a 79-78 victory over Unicaja in the last game in Group A in Saturday afternoon in Paris, France. The title game will be played tomorrow on the center court of the Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy against the winner of Group B where Zalgiris and INSEP fight for the ticket. FMP won the last two titles but this time worked much harder than before to make the final, despite a 3-0 record in its group. Unicaja finished the group 2nd with a 2-1 record. After a buzzer beater win yesterday the champs enjoyed another thrilling win behind an off balance hit by Bogdan Bogdanovic to take the one point lead, and win the ticket to the final. Unicaja made a great run to put FMP under pressure, but lack of focus allowed its opponent to have the chance to snatch the game. Bogdanovic was the top scorer with 21 points, Nenad Miljenovic added 15 points with 5 assists and Nikola Jankovic scored 13 with 9 rebounds. Jose Pozas topped the scoresheet of Unicaja with 18 points, Malick Fall added 13 with 8 rebounds and Rafa Freire had 10 points and 8 assists.

A close first quarter saw Unicaja collect points from the arc, but FMP used the active Jankovic around the rim to finish the first quarter with a 21-14 lead. Miljenovic and Bogdanovic started to collect points early in the 2nd quarter, and following a Jankovic dunk the gap reached 15, 32-17 after 15 minutes. Freire and Pozas decided its their time, and with big pressure on defense and great accuracy at the other end led a 3-16 run to make it just a 2 point game. Bogdanovic went to shoot three times from the line to stop the Spanish run and FMP finished the first half with a 42-36 lead. FMP's back court duo - Miljenovic and Bogdanovic - pushed the difference back to double-digits, but Fall was active around the rim and Pozas hit a reverse lay up to cut the difference by half, 53-48 after 27 minutes, yet still couldn't complete the comeback. Early in the 4th it was time for Unicaja to make its great attack. Daniel Perez scored twice from the perimeter and Pozas stole and scored to finally put Unicaja on top 63-65. Fall and Freire displayed their skills and with 3 minutes to play Unicaja's lead was already 5, 70-75. FMP tied the score but saw Unicaja take the lead back inside the last minute before a key play took place. Following a Bogdanovic miss Fall was first on the rebound but showed too much aggressiveness and was called on an unsportsmanlike foul, which allowed Bogdanovic to tie the score at 77-77. Freire played great defense to stop Miljenovic and with a long rebound went for the fast break where he was stopped. He missed the first, and made the second but FMP still had 10 seconds to react. Bogdanovic was first on the rebound, and took the ball coast to coast to release an off balance shot from the left side which jumped on the rim and sank in. Pozas still had the last shot of the game, but his shot bounced out and FMP's celebrations filled the court.