Ludwigsburg pick up second win, hope now for help

U18 Porsche Ludwigsburg did its part in its hopes to reach the title game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Qualifier Valencia by easing past U18 USK Future Stars Prague 63-47. Ariel Hukporti collected 18 points and 20 rebounds for a performance index rating of 33, George-Cristian Cotoara scored 13 points and Lukas Herzog picked up 11 points and 5 rebounds as Ludwigsburg finished Group A play with a 2-1 record. Ludwigsburg now crosses its fingers that U18 FC Barcelona Lassa can beat host side U18 Valencia Basket in the last game of Group A to get a chance to play for a spot in the ANGT Finals in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Prague finished group play with an 0-3 record despite David Bohm picking up 17 points.

Bohm scored 4 points as Prague opened a 3-7 lead early. But the Czech side could not get any offense going while Ludwigsburg knocked down 3 three-pointers in a 15-0 run over the final 5:33 minutes of the quarter to lead 18-7. Marek Vyroubal stopped the drought to start the second quarter and two scores from Martin Svoboda helped pull Prague to within 22-18. Hukporti began to take over offensively with 6 points in an 11-2 surge as Ludwigsburg went up 33-20 and led 33-22 at the break. Herzog opened the second half with a three-ball and added another triple as the Ludwigsburg cushion grew to 43-27. And it was 45-29 but Ludwigsburg failed to score in the final 4 minutes of the quarter, holding on to a 45-35 margin. Prague would not go away as Michal Svojanovsky hit from long range and Bohm nailed two treys to move within 54-47. But a Hukporti putback and another Herzog three-pointer made it 59-47 with 2 minutes left.