Maccabi stays undefeated, reaches first-place game

U18 Maccabi Teddy Tel Aviv locked up its spot in the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich first-place game by beating U18 FC Bayern Munich 77-83. Raziel Hayun drained 4 three-pointers in scoring 27 points while Nadav Yancowitz had 19 points with 4 three-pointers. Deni Avdija collected 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for a performance index rating of 39. Avdija became the sixth player with a triple double in ANGT history following Dario Saric, Damien Inglis, August Haas, Amar Gegic and Mert Akay. Maccabi, which reached the ANGT Finals Championship Game in 2003, finished Group A with a perfect 3-0 record, and will play the Group B winner for a spot in the ANGT Finals in Vitoria-Gasteiz at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. Bayern, which could have reached the first-place game with a victory by 11 points, finished the group with a 1-2 record and will play for fifth place. Jason George scored 20 points, Matej Rudan had 18 points and Sasha Grant chipped in 14 points in the defeat.

Neither team could pull away in the opening minutes as Maccabi led 6-7 before Grant knocked down 2 three-pointers for a 14-9 Bayern lead. Another Grant long ball had the home side up 19-13 and it was 19-15 after 10 minutes. A Yancowitz three-pointer had Maccabi within 23-22 before Nicolas Buchholz and Jeremia Agyepong both hit from downtown and Bayern was ahead 33-27. Hayun drained 3 three-pointers at the other end to even the game 33-33 while Bayern led 38-35 at intermission. A four-point play by Rudan increased the lead to 44-35 early in the second half but Maccabi charged back and knotted the game 47-47 with a 1-10 run. Filip Skubalj knocked down a three-pointer to help Bayern lead 55-51 after 30 minutes. Bayern got back to a 6-point lead and was still ahead 63-58 when Yancowitz nailed 3 three-pointers and Hayun and Avdija followed with long balls of their own in a 6-19 surge for a 69-77 advantage. George and Rudan both hit treys at the other end to trim it to 75-79. But Yancowitz converted two free throws with 31 seconds to ice the win.