U18 Zalgiris Kaunas – the defending champion from last season’s adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals – joined U18 Next Gen Abu Dhabi with a perfect 2-0 record in Group B of the Abu Dhabi qualifier after beating U18 London Lions 95-69 on Saturday morning.
Maksim Brnovic and Sten-Markus Adamson scored 19 points apiece for Zalgiris, while Nojus Mistautas added 16 points. Dovydas Jakstonis had 12 points and a team-high 8 rebounds, and Galius Cerneckis chipped in 11 points. Zalgiris was without Ignas Stombergas for this game.
London was led by Andrew Nwokolo, who recorded a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double. Kelvin Clement and Emilis Zibuda scored 12 points each for the losing side.
London had the stronger start, as nine first-quarter points from Nwokolo helped the Lions take a 19-26 lead after 10 minutes. Zalgiris did a better job of sharing the ball in the second period and also stepped up defensively, winning the quarter 24-13 to take a narrow 43-39 lead into halftime.
Zalgiris extended its lead to double digits in the third quarter, but a 6-0 London run cut the deficit to 65-58 entering the final period. Any momentum London gained late in the third quickly disappeared as Zalgiris went on to push its advantage beyond 20 points, winning the fourth quarter 30-11 to secure a 95-69 victory.
