The youth Euroleague selection tournament started in Dubai, already in the first match the Lithuanian accent shone.
Villerban ASVEL (1/0) 18-year-olds at the Coca-Cola Arena 88:60 (29:15, 25:12, 16:16, 18:17) defeated Dubai Falcons Basketball Academy (0/1).
ASVEL led to victory Roy Krupnik – 27 minutes, 22 points (2/3 2-pointers, 4/5 3-pointers, 6/9 free throws), 6 rebounds, a steal and 6 turnovers, 4 assists, a foul and 24 utility points.
The 17-year-old 186 cm defender laid the foundations of basketball in Germany and chose to represent the national team of this country. He is not a debutant in the Euroleague youth tournament, having represented Vechta’s RASTA team last season, he moved to France in the summer of 2023.
Marvyn Wade added 20 points to the victory, Thomas Andrieux 13 (7 rebounds), Adam Atamna 11 (3 assists). Victor Wembanyama’s 17-year-old brother Oscar scored 3 points in five minutes.
In the “Falcons” team made up of foreign talents, the most prominent were Serbian Marko Tofoski, who scored 15 points, and Cuban Anthony Rodriguez, who added 14 (9 rebounds).
In group A, the Ulm “Ratiopharm” (1/0) team also won, defeating the youth of “Aris” Thessaloniki (0/1) – 83:67 (26:14, 19:15, 25:21, 13:17).
Jonas Žilinskas scored 7 points (2/2 double-pointers, 1/1 three-pointer, 0/2 free throws), 7 rebounds, an interception and 3 turnovers, 2 assists, 5 fouls and 8 utility points for the winners in 19 minutes.
Frenchman Noa Essengue (5/5 double-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and Jervis Scheffs (4 rebounds) scored 15 points for the Ulm club, Niko Jerkičius and Jordan Mueller scored 13 each. In the Greek team, 19 points were scored by Filippos Tsachtsiras (4/8 three-pointers, 6 rebounds, 4 assists), 17 by Vasileios Kazamias, and 10 by Petros Paterakis.
On Friday, at 4:00 p.m. The teams of R. Krupnik and J. Žilinskas will fight each other.
The 18-year-olds of “Žalgiris” Kaunas also compete in this tournament, who will compete in Group B matches at 1:45 p.m. will start the match against their peers “Virtus” Bologna.
“Long break”: an extraordinary year for Lithuanian basketball – 2014: the most interesting events, unheard stories, bold decisions, big changes and unchanged best players so far
