Defending champion U18 Real Madrid opened the 2016 EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Finals with a hard-fought 73-62 victory over host side U18 ALBA Berlin in Group B. Dino Radoncic poured in 27 points, Ignasio Ballespin chipped in 11 points and Acoydan McCarthy had 10 points for Madrid, which survived making 18-of-30 free throws. ALBA got 25 points from Ferdinand Zylka in the loss with Bennet Hundt contributing 10 points and Louis Olinde collecting 4 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Ballespin hit the first basket of the game for Madrid with Rijad Avdic evening it at 2-2 on an offensive rebound putback. Zylka’s three-pointer gave ALBA its first lead 4-5 and Olinde’s free throw made it 4-6. After Madrid scoring just 4 points in the first 6 minutes, Radoncic nailed a three-ball for a 7-6 lead. Hundt’s three-pointer put ALBA back ahead 8-9 but Radoncic converted a three-point play and Francisco Salvador made it 13-9. Radoncic added another basket as the defending champion was up 15-11 after 10 minutes. Felipe Dos Anjos hit 2 baskets early in the second quarter and Radoncic nailed a three-ball to open a 22-13 lead. ALBA stayed close as Olinde scored 3 points and Avdic made it 26-20. The gap was still 30-22 when Zylka got hot from outside with three three-pointers in the final 2:39 minutes as ALBA trailed just 35-33 at intermission.

Ballespin started the second half as well and Dos Anjos added another basket for a 39-35 lead before Hundt nailed a triple to make it a one-point game 39-38. Miki Fons responded with baskets at the start and end of a 7-2 run to move ahead 46-40. Baku Badu was able to trim the deficit down to 46-44 only to see Ballespin connect from downtown and the lead was 53-46 after 30 minutes. ALBA scored the first 3 points of the fourth quarter to trim the gap to 53-49, but Radoncic scored 6 points in an 8-2 Madrid surge to open a 61-51 lead with 6 minutes to play and an ALBA time out. McCarthy increased the gap to 63-51 before a Zylka three-point play and free throw got the gap to single digits. Zylka knocked down another three and scored again as the margin was 67-60 with 4 minutes left. Radoncic set up a Dos Anjos for a big dunk and then Zylka was forced out of the game with a right leg injury with under 3 minutes to play. ALBA’s top gun was gone and the host team could not mount a final comeback attempt.