Cajasol will be in Paris after winning the second Euroleague's International Junior Tournament of the season at L'Hospitalet (Barcelona). Sevilla squad beat in the final one of the main tittle outsiders, Unicaja Malaga, 70-72. The important pieces of the team work like an engine in the decisive game. Pablo Villarejo ('92) collected 17 points with 3/8 threes, and important actions in last minutes. Point-guard Ricardo Pampano ('93) has been playing better every game and against Unicaja he nailed 17 points with 5/7 FG. Brazilian center Gabriel Darin ('92) had fouls trouble and only played 10 minutes, but enough to score 12 points (5/5 FG) and grabbed 3 rebounds. Finally, african prospect Pape Amadou ('93) also made a good job: 9 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Was a tough game against a group of prospects led by Miki Servera ('92). The small-forward finished again as the best player of team coached by Leandro Ramírez with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. The rest of international spanish players made good stats, but was not enough: Malick Fall ('92) -11 points and 7 rebounds-, Luis Conde ('93) -13 and 4 rebounds- and Jose Pozas ('92) -11 with 3/6 threes-. With this win Cajasol join Zalgiris Kaunas (winner in Rome) as the two teams already qualifyied for the Paris final round. Next NIJT will be held in Belgrade (Serbia) from February 12th to 14th.
Sevilla made it to the final after winning DKV Joventut in semifinals (85-90), another big surprise even catalans had Pau Margui ('93) and Marko Todorovic ('92) injured, two of their basic pieces inside. Ricardo Pampano ('93) -19 points and 2 steals- led team coached by Juanma Pino. For DKV, guard Albert Ventura ('92) nailed 22 points in 25 minutes.
In the other semifinal Unicaja won Alba Berlin (58-60) with Miki Servera ('92) in a good level: 19 points, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Guard Mario Blessing ('92) wasn't enough (19 points and 5 assists).
Last edition's champion Lietuvos Rytas finished fifth after beating FC Barcelona (86-96) and KK Split (70-82). Against catalans Jonas Valanciunas ('92) didn't waste his time: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 18 minutes. For Barcelona Joan Creus ('92) nailed 17 points with 4/7 threes. In their second Jonas Valanciunas ('92) destroyed the stats with a 50 valoration: 33 points (10/10 twos), 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Croatians had in guard Bruno Markulin ('92) their best player with 31 points and 7/13 behind the arc. In the morning KK Split beat Real Madrid (76-66) with a great Toni Katic ('92): 33 points and 9 rebounds. At white team forward Daniel Busto ('92) made a double 15 in points and rebounds.
Gran Canaria finished ninth after winning Estudiantes (72-81) and Hospitalet (73-76). African prospect Bakary Konate ('93) has been the big name of both victories: 17 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, and 14 points, 19 rebounds and 6 blocks. For Estudiantes brazilian Lucas Riva ('92) shined with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocks, while for Hospitalet Albert Olmedo ('92) nailed 21 points. At the morning Hospitalet beat Valencia (68-71) led by Eduard Tejero ('92): 22 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals. The best of losers was Francisco Blanco ('92), with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Jonas Valanciunas ('92) has been named the MVP of the tournament, Juanma Pino (Sevilla) the best coach, Eduard Tejero ('92) the best local player and Alba Berlin the fair play team. Eigirdas Zukauskas ('92), of Lietuvos Rytas, won the 3 points contest.
