Mega with no problem in easy win over Arka

U18 Mega Bemax Belgrade took the first step to taking first place again at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade with a comfortable 107-90 victory over U18 Asseco Arka Gdynia. Mihailo Musikic paced six Mega players in double figures with 20 points to go with 8 assists while Marko Krtinic picked up 17 points and 11 rebounds, Luka Paunovic scored 15 points, Nikola Djurisic 14 and Marko Andric and Petar Kovacevic both chipped in 13 points. Arka, which was out-rebounded 45-26, had Piotr Lis lead the way with 18 points with Wojciech scoring 17 points, Kacper Gordon contributing 16 points and 11 assists and Olaf Perzanowski and Nikodem Czoska both tallying 16 points.

Musikic converted an early three-point play and Andric nailed a three-pointer in helping Mega pull ahead 15-4. Paunovic and Djurisic both knocked down long balls in a 12-0 run and the lead was 27-8. Perzanowski was on target from long range at the other end and Arka was down 35-19 after 10 minutes. Another Andric triple pushed the gap to 21 points - 42-21 - after which Gordon and Lis hit from long range to pull within 42-29. Mega went on a 9-1 spurt to increase the advantage to 55-32 and Krtinic’s score made it 66-39. Arka trailed 68-44 at the break. Arka was trying to get a bit closer and was down 75-51 when Mega reeled off a 10-0 run to go up 85-51 and increased the margin to 88-53. After 30 minutes, the score was 94-63. Paunovic and Oleksandr Kobzystyi both hit three-pointers early in the fourth quarter as the advantage swelled to 102-63. Arka made sure the final result didn’t look as bad as they managed a 3-20 surge to pull within 105-83. But the hole was just way too big.