U18 Armani Junior Milan started its Euroleague Basketball ADIDIAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Torneo Citta di Roma with a thrilling 74-80 victory over U18 Mega Leks Belgrade on Sunday. Nemaja Dincic led the way for Milan in the Group B game with 25 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals while Simone Vecerina scored 12 points. Davide Toffali, Michele Serpilli and Michele D’Ambrosio all added 11 points as Milan came back from a 10-point third quarter deficit and held Mega to just 4-of-26 (15%) three-pointers. The game went back and forth and featured 19 lead changes and seven ties. The 15-year-old Marko Pecarski was Mega’s top scorer with 20 points to go with nine rebounds while Aleksandar Aranitovic scored 18 points but made just 6-of-22 shots in also picking up 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Novak Music chipped in 17 points in the defeat.

Music opened the game with the first points with Toffali’s free throw at the other end. Dincic scored two straight baskets to give Milan its first lead 4-5 and Omar Dieng making it 4-7. Pecarski’s two free throws gave Mega the lead back 10-9, starting a stretch of six straight scores in which the lead switched hands as Aranitovic made it 16-15. Uros Plavsic set up baskets for Goga Bitadze and Music to up the margin to 20-15. Vecerina twice split two free throws for Milan and Bitadze and Jovan Vojinovic did the same before two Aranitovic free throws left Mega ahead 24-17 after 10 minutes. Toffali hit two baskets to start the second quarter and Dincic trimmed the gap to 24-23. Pecarski finally got Mega on the board in the second quarter only to see Serpilli start an 0-6 run for a 26-29 lead. Pecarski kept the Serbian team close with three baskets – the third one a three-point play to even the game at 33-33. D’Ambrosio put Milan back ahead but Pecarski answered right back and Mega nosed ahead 38-35 on Music’s three-pointer. Aranitovic followed with a three-point play to up the cushion to 41-35 but D’Ambrosio knocked down a three-ball just before the half time buzzer as Milan trailed 41-38 at intermission.

Dincic’s free throws opened the second half before an Aranitovic score. Dincic followed with two more baskets and D’Ambrosio increased the Milan margin to 43-46. The back-and-forth continued with Music’s three-pointer to make it 48-46. Dincic knotted the game with two free throws but Aranitovic nailed a three-ball as well to start a 10-0 run, which featured a trey and two free throws from Nikola Miskovic for a 58-48 cushion. Matteo Lagana came off the bench to drain back-to-back three-pointers and Serpilli’s triple got Milan to within 60-57 after 30 minutes. Vecerina opened the fourth quarter by knocking down a three-pointer to knot the game at 60-60. Music put Mega back ahead but Serpilli hit from long range again and Milan was up 62-63. Pecarski refused to give up as he scored again but Serpilli nailed another triple to make it 64-66. Vojinovic knotted the game once again with five minutes to play and Pecarski had Mega up 68-66. After Dincic tied it again, Music converted a three-point play. Dincic followed with an offensive rebound put-back and Vecerina’s three-pointer put Milan back ahead 71-73 with just more than two minutes left. Pecarski followed by splitting two free throws and then putting his team up again. But Dincic punched right back with a three-pointer to make it 74-76 – the final lead change of the game. Aranitovic missed a three-pointer and then Dincic put back his own miss to decide the game. Dincic added two more free throws to ice the game for good.