Zvezda has little trouble with debutant Cluj in opening win

Host side U18 Crvenz Zvezda mts Belgrade tipped off the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade with an emphatic 89-53 victory over U18 U-BT Cluj Napoca. Filip Radakovic led the way for the 2014 U18 continental champion with 17 points while Vladimir Pavlovic added 14 points and Nikola Saranovic picked up 12 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the Group A opener. Dragos Lungu collected 18 points and 9 rebounds as the leading scorer for the Romanian side Cluj, which was making its debut in the competition. David Lapuste and Modibo Diaby both pitched in 12 points in the loss while Cluj leader Stefan Grasu was held to 2 points, 5 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

Lungo hit a three-pointer to start the game for the first points of the competition - as well as Cluj’s first points in ANGT history. Diaby made it 2-5 before Zvezda went on an 8-0 run and then scored 10 straight points later in the quarter to go up 23-9. The host side led 25-12 after 10 minutes. Zvezda picked up the first eight points of the second quarter and pushed the gap to 33-12. Trailing by 22 points, Cluj was able to go on a 3-10 surge with two Lapuste three-pointers to pull within 43-28. But the score was 47-38 at the break.

An Ognjen Matovic triple increased the Zvezda margin to 54-39 early in the third quarter. Cluj managed five straight points but the host side responded with the next six points to make it 60-34. And Zvezda finished the third quarter on a 7-2 spurt to lead 67-40 going into the final 10 minutes. Zvezda did not let up as Radakovic scored the first seven points of a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter for an 80-40 margin. Cluj did not score until just more than 4 minutes left in the game and it was long decided by then.