Mega too powerful for Olimpija

U18 Mega SoccerBet Belgrade cruised to a comfortable 77-97 victory over U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana to start Group B play at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade. Nikola Jovic tallied 31 points to go with 12 rebounds and 5 assists for an index rating of 41 for Mega, which has twice reached the ANGT Championship Game in 2017 and 2019. Nikola Djurisic and Oleksandr Kobzystyi both added 18 points and Mihailo Milutinovic chipped in 11 points in the dominating performance. Andrija Jelavic scored 21 points to pace Olimpija with Vice Zanki and Nil Jovanovic both picking up 16 points and Andre Skelin offering up 13 points and 8 rebounds.

Mega scored the first six points of the game and Jovic drained two three-pointers in tallying 12 points for a 5-18 early lead. Djurisic and Kobzystyi both hit from deep as the margin grew to 15-32 with the Serbian side leading 18-32 after 10 minutes. Jelavic started the second quarter hot with eight points and Jovanovic and Zanki both hit triples to get Olimpija within 36-41. It was still a five-point game when Mega finished the first half with the final nine points over 2:21 minutes of action for a 42-56 lead at the break.

Kobzystyi scored the first five points of the second half as the lead grew to 42-61 and Jovic’s next four points made it 48-67. Olimpija tried to cut into the deficit but could only pull within 15 and trailed 60-79 after 30 minutes. Gasper Kocevar tallied five points in the early going of the fourth quarter as Olimpija was down 69-83. Mega however ended any doubts with a 0-12 run over nearly 5 minutes to extend the margin to 69-95 with 3 minutes to play.