CSKA finishes fifth after outlasting Promitheas

U18 CSKA Moscow finished in fifth place at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Munich with an 83-82 victory over U18 Promitheas Patras. Aleksandr Maltsev led three-time continental champion CSKA with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals - as well as the game-winning layup with 4.6 seconds left. Anton Kardanakhishvili added 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 steals and both Andrei Malinin and Maxim Kuzemkin scored 11 points. Christos Kafezas paced Promitheas with 24 points, Lefteris Mantzoukas scored 22, Periklis Kouroupakis added 18 points and 6 rebounds and Athanasios Bazinas chipped in 13 points, 4 assists and 4 steals.

CSKA started better in the game with Kuzemkin’s three-pointer finishing a 14-4 run for a 16-6 lead. Kafezas came up with a three-point play to help Promitheas pull within 18-15. CSKA led 22-15 after 10 minutes. The Russian side re-established a double-digit lead at 25-15 and an Ivan Zimin triple helped grow the cushion to 30-18. Promitheas shut down CSKA for more than 4 minutes and went on a 0-13 run with Kafezas scoring 6 points for a 30-31 edge. Kuzemkin scored 5 points and CSKA led 39-37 at the break. Bazinas started the second half with 5 points and Promitheas moved back ahead 40-42. CSKA punched back with 14 straight points; Kuzemkin and Maltsev both drained threes to make it 54-44. Promitheas answered with a 2-20 surge at the end of the third quarter, including a pair of Kafezas three-point plays and a Mantzoukas three-pointer to lead 56-64 after 30 minutes. Kardanakhishvili started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and added 5 more points as CSKA knotted the game at 70-70. With the game tied 72-72, Kafezas nailed a three-pointer and Mantzoukas hit 4 free throws in a 2-8 spurt to move ahead 74-80. Mantzoukas and Kafezas both split free throws and Maltsev hit a basket and 2 foul shots to pull within 81-82 with 26 seconds left. After Mantzoukas missed a jumper with 10 seconds left, Maltsev converted a tough layup for an 83-82 lead with 4.6 seconds to play. Mantzoukas drove down the court, but turned the ball over before he could attempt a game-winner.