Bayern Munich picked up its first victory at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT in Kaunas by holding off USK Future Stars Prague 61-59 to finish in third place in Group A. Richard Freudenberg paced Bayern with 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Jannick Jebens scored 12 points and Karim Jallow chipped in 11 points in helping the team finish the tournament with a 1-2 record. USK Future Stars finished last in the group with an 0-3 record. Krystof Chaloupka led the Prague side with 16 points and nine rebounds while Jakub Tuma had 14 points and Ondrej Sehnal chipped in 10 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Sehnal opened the scoring and Jallow gave Bayern its first lead with a three-point play and Jebens and Lukas Dollinger followed with baskets for a 7-2 lead. After Freudenberg’s first score made it, Filip Petruzela hit two free throws and Krystof Chaloupka knocked down a three-ball for the first of four more ties in the first quarter and Sehnal’s foul shot had USK Future Stars up 9-10. Another Sehnal free throw had the Czech side ahead 12-13 before two Freudenberg baskets for a 16-13 lead. Krystof Chaloupka tied the game again at 16-16 before Alexander Hermann’s three-point play for a 19-16 Bayern advantage after 10 minutes. Vojtech Kudrna opened the second quarter for USK Future Stars and Sehnal knotted it at 21-21. Baskets from Sehnal and Petruzela tied it two more times – the second time at 25-25. Freudenberg’s three-ball was followed by a Jebens basket for a 30-25 Bayern cushion. David Chaloupka trimmed it to 30-27 with 5:08 minutes left in the first half. But USK Future Stars would not score again with six straight missed shots and two turnovers while Freudenberg scored four points in helping Bayern open a 36-27 margin at intermission.

Tuma cut the deficit to seven points with the first score of the second half before Georg Beyschlag and Freudenberg scored to make it 40-29. After Krystof Chaloupka answered with a basket and a three-ball to trim the gap to 40-34, Luka Burkardt nailed a triple and Jallow pushed the lead to 45-34. Kudrna made two baskets down the stretch to get USK Future Stars to within 47-38 after 30 minutes. Bayern struggled out of the gates in the fourth quarter and the Czech side took advantage of that with the first 11 points as Tuma scored four points and Krystof Chaloupka’s three-pointer gave USK Future Stars the lead 47-49. After Bayern came up empty-handed in its first four possessions in the fourth quarter, Jallow finally scored at the 6:40 minute mark to even the game at 49-49. Krystof Chaloupka followed with another triple for a 49-52 lead but Jallow came up with a dunk and Jebens’ steal and lay-up had Bayern ahead 53-52. The lead changed hands with the next four scores, the last being Beyschlag’s lay-up after which he missed the bonus free throw for a 57-56 lead. Dollinger knocked down a jumper with 11 seconds left to give Bayern a 59-56 cushion. Freudenberg stole the ensuing in-bounds pass and made it 60-56 with one free throw with 8.6 seconds remaining. Tuma was able bank a three-pointer off the glass with 4.8 seconds left to cut it to 60-59. And USK Future Stars still had a chance after Burkardt split two free throws with 2.8 seconds left. But Krystof Chaloupka’s attempt from half-court was off-target to secure the win.