Barcelona outlasts Mega to reach championship game

There will be an all-Spanish showdown in the 2021 Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Championship Game as U18 FC Barcelona outlasted U18 Mega SoccerBet Belgrade 79-77 in a thriller to decide Group B. The 2016 continental champion Barcelona came back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter, taking control of the game with an 18-3 run and then holding on thanks to James Nnaji blocking Nikola Jovic’s shot in the waning seconds. Nnaji ended with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks as Barcelona took first place in Group B with a 3-0 record. Michael Caicedo collected 23 points and 11 rebounds, Agustin Ubal scored 11 points and Gael Bonilla added 10 points and 5 assists in the victory. Mega lost its first game of the tournament despite Nikola Jovic tallying 20 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists. Oleksandr Kobzystyi added 14 points, Danilo Labovic and Nikola Djurisic both had 11 points and Tomislav Ivisic picked up 10 points and 8 rebounds. Mega shot itself in the foot by making just 18-of-28 free throws.

Ivisic had two baskets sandwiched around a three-pointer from Caicedo early on. Mega’s offense stalled after that and Nnaji scored 6 points in an 8-0 run over nearly than 4 minutes for an 11-4 lead. Mega made adjustments and put together a 2-12 surge to go ahead 14-18 and the game was knotted at 18-18 after 10 minutes. Barcelona scored the first 5 points of the second quarter but then went scoreless for nearly 4 minutes and Mega went ahead 23-24. Neither team could pull away as that was the first of seven lead changes in the quarter with Labovic making it 33-34 at the break.

The game remained tight in the second half though Mega was able to stay ahead and Luka Bogavac hit a triple in helping push the lead to 40-46. Barcelona fought back with Caicedo connecting from deep and adding another score in getting the team within 47-48. Mega managed to pull away a bit again with a 2-9 spurt including a big Jovic three-pointer to lead 49-57. And the advantage was 52-60 after 30 minutes. Labovic opened the final frame with a three-pointer to extend the margin to 11 points, 52-63, and the lead was still in the double digits, after Kobzystyi’s free throws. However, Barcelona punched back with an 11-0 run to reclaim the lead 68-67. After Djurisic tied the game with a free throw, Nnaji and Rafa Villar scored to put Barcelona back ahead and Ubal drained a corner triple for a 75-70 lead with 100 seconds left. Bogavac answered with a three-pointer and Jovic converted a three-point play to get Mega within 79-77 with 31 seconds to go. At the other end, Ubal missed a layup, but Nnaji grabbed the offensive rebound and David Castellnou was sent to the line with 12 seconds left. He missed both free throws to give Mega a chance. Jovic missed his floater but grabbed his own rebound only to have Nnaji block Jovic’s shot to save the game.