A one man show by Alessandro Gentile paved the way for Benetton Basket Gioco Giditale to beat FMP 61-74 on the first game of Group B in the Citta Di Roma tournament in Roma, Italy where one of the four qualifying games towards the Nike International Junior Tournament to be held in Paris, France during the upcoming Euroleague Final Four takes place. Gentile was on fire from tip off to the finish line and reached a total of 40 points behind seven three pointers in 50% accuracy. The first and last field goals of Benetton in the game were a three point ace by the young scorer who wrote a sensational performance a delivered a good reason to keep a close eye on him in the following days to come. He led Benetton to a 42-17 lead already at the break, and by then had already 20 points, more than the entire team of the two last Nike International Junior Tournaments. The next top scorer for Benetton was Alessandro Zanelli who had 10 points. Nemanja Bezbradica led FMP with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Nenad Miljenovic had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists as well for the losing side. Both teams will gather energy towards tomorrow when they play two games each in the group.

Seven minutes inside the game Gentile already had 12 points while FMP remained in single-digits in an 18-5 Benetton lead. Miljenovic and Bezbradica joined forces to cut the gap to eight, 22-14 after one quarter, but Gentile was still on fire, while the champs were looking for the right path to the rim, without great success. Six points in a row by Gentile set him on 20 points already after 18 minutes and a 38-16 difference right before the break. Paolo Armellin sealed the big half with a three pointer of his own to make it a 25 point game, and FMP had no answers. After a 14-1 run led by Bezbradica once again the Serbs had a view to the top. Nevertheless there was no surprise when Gentile combined eight points to turn it once again much closer to the 20 point barrier, and the last eight minutes of the game were a fight for the goal difference, as FMP came out with a limited blow, just 13 points behind.