Nike International Junior Tournament: Day three roundup

Just over two hours remain before Spain’s Europe’s top youth teams face off in the Nike International Junior Tournament championship game, and so follows a recap of yesterday’s action which ultimately saw FC Barcelona and Joventut Badalona advance, as provided by Net Scouts. The shows that these teams put on in facing a variety of styles – particularly impressive was Joventut, who handled defensive-minded Lietuvos Rytas, shut down the often dominant Dusan Ristic and Crvena Zvezda/Red Star Belgrade, and kept pace with a hustling Team China – are a true testament to the quality of these youth programs…

Joventut Badalona had little trouble with China (1-2), forcing the Chinese into 25 turnovers which resulted in Joventut taking 22 more shots in the game. Joventut maintained a double-digit lead for much of the contest. 6’8” Jose Nogues led the winners with 21 points, shooting 8-of-13 on two-pointers. 6’4” Agusti Sans finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists while 6’5” Alberto Abalde scored 16 and hit three three-pointers. 6’5” Jinglong Li was the only player in double-figures for Team China with 14 points. Joventut came back from a two-point deficit at the end of the first quarter to score 25 in the second to take a ten-point halftime lead.

Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade (2-1) took care of this event’s disappointment Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius (0-3), 73-54, in a game that was never close: Zvezda pulled out to a 16-point halftime lead and forced 26 Rytas turnovers in the contest. 6’4” Brano Djukanovic led Zvezda with 19 points, hitting 5-of-7 three-pointers. 6’10” Dusan Ristic had a solid game with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. 6’5” Marko Guduric helped the winners with 14 points and seven rebounds. Rytas played their entire roster and no player scored in double-figures.

In FC Barcelona Regal’s 74-55 win over INSEP Paris (1-2), the Blaugrana pulled out to an eight-point first-quarter lead, led by ten at the half and pulled away from there. 6’6” Marc Garcia led Barcelona with 21 points, including three threes. 6’11” Milovan Draskovic added 19 points and 13 rebounds, while 6’6” Adria Cantenys contributed 16 points and five rebounds for the winners. Damien Inglis was solid for INSEP with 15 points and nine rebounds and 6’8” Ywen Smock (1996) added 14.

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