Stellazzurra survives scare against Copenhagen

U18 Stellazzurra Rome gave up a 14-point lead and barely survived a fight against debutant U18 DBA Copenhagen 70-77 to stay alive in the race for the first-place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Kaunas. Yannick Nzosa collected 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks while Matteo Visintin added 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks as Stellazzurra improved to 1-1 in Group B. Leo Menalo and Maximilian Ladurner both scored 10 points and Dut Mabor chipped in 9 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks as Stellazzurra out-rebounded Copenhagen 67-50 to make up for 28 turnovers. Jonathan Klussmann picked up 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Gustav Knudsen had 12 points and 4 rebounds for Copenhagen, which fell to 0-2 in the group.

Nzosa picked up 4 early points as Stellazzurra moved ahead 3-9. Copenhagen answered with 4 straight points but Mabor tallied 5 points as the Italian side went up 7-17 and the lead was 11-18 after 10 minutes. A Klussmann three-ball early in the second quarter cut the gap to 18-20. Stellazzurra scored the next 5 points and was later up 24-31 but the newcomer from Denmark tallied the final 6 points for the first half and trailed just 30-31 at the break. Stellazzurra started the second half strong and went up 34-42 and two scores from Ladurner and a three-pointer by Visintin sparked a 4-13 surge for a 43-57 Stellazzurra lead after three quarters. Copenhagen started the final frame with great intensity and worked its way back into the game with Klussmann scoring 8 points in an 18-4 run to knot it at 61-61. A Menalo three-pointer put Stellazzura ahead 66-70 just inside the 3 minute mark but Linus Gron evened the game at 70-70 a minute later. Three straight Copenhagen turnovers allowed Visintin’s free throws with 58 seconds to put the Italian side up 70-74 and Copenhagen could not score again.