Great opening success for the U18 Bayern basketball team at the "Adidas Next Generation Tournament" in Podgorica: After a balanced first half (38:38), Emir Mutapcic's team dominated the second half against the Ljubljana youth and won convincingly 82:68.
Without the ill Aksel Laso, the first game commenced. The opening minutes belonged to Bayern, as top scorers Ivan Kharchenkov and immediately afterward Ivan Volf hit a three-pointer (11:5/3rd minute). Although the Slovenians managed to turn the game around, another three-pointer from Koray Grenz turned the tide again (32:30/16th minute). A fast-paced game went into halftime with a draw.
The foundation for the later victory was an 11:0 run with three consecutive three-pointers at the start of the second half (49:38/23rd minute). The Munich team shot a solid 47 percent from beyond the arc and were able to compensate for their weak free-throw percentage (40%). U16 player Namik Muratovic scored the final points for the celebrated opening win.
Quotes:
Assistant coach Renato Kapular: "We handled it very confidently against a highly skilled team, especially in the second half. The older players carried the younger ones along. This was a strong collective effort that should give us momentum."
Bayern youngster Ivan Volf: "I'm very happythat we started the tournament with a win. We had good energy in the second half, got good stops in defense, and moved the ball well on offense."
Next opponent is Venice from Italy, scheduled for Saturday morning (9 a.m.), who lost their opening match against favorite Real Madrid, as expected.
All games from Montenegro will be broadcast live on the EuroLeague's YouTube channel.
FCBB U18: Ivan Kharchenkov (27 points), Ivan Volf (20/4 three-pointers), Dominik Dolic (13), Desmond Yiamu (9/13 rebounds), Nikolas Sermpezis (9), Matteo Petters (4), Koray Grenz (3), Andrija Susic (2), Namik Muratovic (2), Eduard Rantz, Alan Topic, and Aksel Laso.
ANGT at Podgorica:
- Saturday, 9:00 CET: FCBB - Venedig
- Saturday, 20:15 CET: FCBB - Real Madrid
- Sunday: Placement match