Defending champion U18 Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade used a big start to the second half to race past U18 Alba Berlin 98-78 to secure a spot in the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament - Marko Ivkovic Belgrade semifinals. Borisa Simanic led the way with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks while Aleksa Radanov collected 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals for Zvezda, which locked up first place in Group A with a 3-0 record. Petar Rebic nailed 5 three-pointers for 15 points to go with 7 assists, Stefan Dordevic added 12 points and 10 rebounds and Matija Radovic chipped in 12 points in the win. Alba dropped to 1-2 but still can move into the semis depending on the result of the final Group A game between U18 Spars Sarajevo and U18 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. Ferdinand Zylka paced Alba with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists while Philipp Herkenhoff and Filip Stanic both scored 11 points and Lukas Skibbe added 10 points.

Alexander Moeller hit the first basket of the game for Alba with Radovic converting two free throws at the other end for Zvezda. Skibbe nailed a pair of three-pointers to keep Alba ahead 5-8 and Zylka made it 7-10. Rebic knocked down 2 triples of his own as Zvezda finally grabbed its first lead 13-12. After Bennet Hundt evened the game at 15-15, Rebic and Radanov followed with three-balls for a 21-15 Zvezda cushion. Simanic put back an offensive rebound to give the Serbian side a 24-17 advantage after 10 minutes. Aleksa Uskokovic opened the second quarter by extending the lead to 9 points but Alba would not go away as Moeller and Stanic both put back misses and Zylka knocked down 2 three-pointers to give Alba the lead 33-36. Another triple knotted the game at 38-38 and Simanic connected from long range to move Zvezda ahead 41-38. Alba pulled back ahead 41-42 on free throws from Moeller and Hundt only to see Radovic nail a triple to put Zvezda up 44-42. And the Zvezda lead was 46-44 at intermission.

Zvezda didn’t waste any time taking control of the game in the second half with Rebic and Simanic hitting three-balls in a 10-0 start to the third quarter. Skibbe’s trey snapped a 2-minute scoreless drought but Simanic nailed back-to-back three-pointers with a blocked shot on defense in between and his breakaway layup made it 64-47, forcing an Alba timeout. Simanic finished off the 24-3 start to the second half for a 70-47 lead. Dordevic increased the lead to 24 points before another Zylka trey trimmed the deficit to 75-56. Zvezda was up 77-56 after 30 minutes. Alba started the fourth quarter on a 2-7 run to cut the gap to 79-63 but Zvevzda hit the next 5 points to make it a 21-point lead with 6 minutes left. Zvezda brought on its reserves and Alba really couldn’t cut into the deficit, getting it down to 17 points, 92-77, with less than 3 minutes remaining. But Alba did not get closer the rest of the way.