Reigning Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT champion U18 Real Madrid began the defense of its crown by breezing past U18 Union Olimpija Ljubljana 36-68 in its opener at the EB ANGT Qualifying Tournament - Torneig de Bàsquet Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet. Felipe Dos Anjos led the way with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks for Madrid in the Group A game, while six other players had at least 6 points. Mihailo Jovicic collected 8 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the win, which was Madrid’s 10th straight in the ANGT Finals or ANGT L’Hospitalet and 21st in the last 23 games. Madrid decided the game in the second quarter when it allowed just 4 points on defense. Gaber Ozegovic paced all scorers in the game with 14 points for Olimpija, which was out-rebounded 44-27 and shot just 25 percent from the field.

Miki Fons opened the scoring for Madrid and Ziga Jurcek evened it before Matic Vesel’s three-point play made it 5-3. Dos Anjos followed with the next 4 points and Ozegovic knotted the score again at 7-7. Acoydan McCarthy’s three-pointer sparked a 0-11 run, which included 4 more Dos Anjos points for a 7-18 advantage. David Kralj trimmed the gap to 12-18, but German Ali-Kasanzi scored the final 7 points of the quarter for a 12-25 lead. Khadim Sow pushed the cushion to 12-28 before Nik Dragan scored Olimpija’s first points of the quarter mid-way through the frame. The Slovenian club failed to score in the final 4:15 minutes of the first half, missing 6 shots and turning it over twice, while Samba Ndiaye tallied 6 points for a 16-39 advantage at the intermission.

Ozegovic’s three started the second half, but Madrid reeled off the next 6 points and held Olimpija scoreless for more than three minutes to open an 18-45 cushion. Olimpija managed 5 straight points to trim the deficit to 22 points. After Sow’s basket to make it 25-51, the Slovenian side scored the final 4 points of the quarter and trailed 29-51. The margin was down to 20 points after Dragan’s three-pointer to make it 32-52 with about six minutes left. Jovicic scored 6 points to make it 34-60 for Madrid, which did not let Olimpija get any closer the rest of the game, extending the lead back to over 30 points.