NEWS STORY. 21/05/2023
Real Madrid have won the Euroleague Junior Championship for the fourth time in its history after defeating the Next Generation Select Team in the final played at the Kaunas Sports Hall. Our reserve team fought until the last minute to win the title in a hard-fought game, but in which they were ahead almost all the time. Jan Vide (19 points and 25 index rating) led five players who made double figures in scoring and index. The Slovenian point guard was named MVP of the tournament and was also part of the best five.
Javier Juárez's side went into the final very focused and led 20-10 in the first 10 minutes, in which the outside duo of Vide and Egor stood out. But the rival team, made up of the best players from the teams that did not qualify for the Final Phase, reacted in the second quarter under the leadership of centre Faye to leave the score at 37-34 at half-time.
At the restart, Madrid regained control of the game with some great team work, striking the right balance between offence and defence. Ismaila grew more dominant in the paint and Hugo and Mitar stepped up, in a third quarter in which we took an 8-point lead (56-48). The final stretch was a tough battle against a physically powerful opponent. However, the reserve team continued to play at a very high defensive level, closing down the rebounding at their own hoop and taking advantage of their opportunities in attack, with Vide taking over the rebounding duties. That led them, little by little, to take a valuable lead of between five and seven points, which they defended tooth and nail in the final minutes (71-60, min. 40).
MATCH INFO
71-Real Madrid: Jan Vide (19), Egor (10), Hugo (17), Mitar (13) e Ismaila (12)-cinco incial- Askel (-), Abel (-), Jesús (0), Asier (0), Szymon (0), Traore (0) and Massamba (-).
60-Next Generation Select Team: Pietrus (15), Todorovic (0), Szumert (0), Diawara (9) y Faye (10)-cinco inicial-Gavalyugov (-), Stuknys (2), Edigin (8), Giovannetti (6), Mirkovic (8) and Folgueiras (2).
