Barça's junior basketball has been crowned champion of the preliminary round of the EuroLeague 'Next Generation' tournament, which also brings access to the final phase, which will coincide with the EuroLeague Final Four in Abu Dhabi (May 23-25).
The team coached by Carlos Marín led the group stage with a perfect record, winning against ALBA Berlin (48-101), Olympiacos (109-61), and the Next Gen Team Ulm (85-59). The final was against the top team from the other group, Zalgiris, who had defeated Ulm, Dubai Basketball, and ASVEL of France.
In the grand final, Barça went into halftime trailing (42-41) but delivered a strong third quarter (19-27) and, in the final period, were able to defend their lead to claim the trophy (89-91). Point guard Raul Villar, with 19 points, seven assists, and a performance rating of 26, was the standout player of the final, while Mathieu Grujcic was named MVP of the competition (18.5 points and a performance rating of 19.8).
