Montepaschi Siena and Fenerbahce Ulker will play this afternoon the big final of the Nike International Junior Tournament of Rome (Italy). Italians and turkish ended the second day of competition leading their groups with a 2-1 record. The game will be played at 20.00h in the Arena Altero Felici. Even KK Zagreb couldn't make the final the man of the tournament is youngster Mario Hezonja ('95), at the pic. The guard is averaging 24.0 points (35% 3p), 12.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Crazy stats for a prospect two years younger than most of the players in Rome. Beside him rising-star Dario Saric ('94) struggled in the decisive contest yesterday against Montepaschi, but many NBA scouts are following on live the #1 of Eurohopes'94. The forward is averaging 12.3 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists but 7.0 turnovers. Let's check what happened in these two days.
Group A:
-Lietuvos Rytas 95 Lottomatica Roma 68: A great 32-9 run in the third quarter, the key of lithuanian's win. Guard Mantas Mockevicius ('93), the best at the winning effort with 23 points (9/13 FG) in 29 minutes. Matteo Tambone ('94) had 14 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist for italian squad.
-Benetton 76 Fenerbahce 87: Great start for turkish, with Candan Berkay ('93) leading the team (23 points, 10 boards and 3 assists). Raphael Gaspardo ('93), not enough: 26 points (10/19 FG) and 10 boards.
-Lietuvos Rytas 62 Fenerbahce 63: Second victory of turkish with Candan Berkay ('93) shining again with another double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block). Mantas Mockevicius ('93), the best of lithuanians again with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
-Benetton 61 Lottomatica 58: Treviso recovered after a bad first half (-12) led by bulgarian Pavlin Ivanov ('93), with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. For Rome Daniele Tomasello ('93) collected a double-double (18 points, 13 boards and 2 steals).
-Fenerbahce 61 Lottomatica 65: After two games with less minutes youngster James Metecan Birsen ('95) appeared with 16 points (7/11 FG), 8 rebounds and 3 steals, but not enough to win. Nicola Lucibello ('93), the best at the winning effort with 20 points (3/6 3p) and 4 boards.
-Lietuvos 87 Benetton 53: Lithuanians added their first win, but not enough to make the final. Mantas Mockevicius ('93) ended as their best scorer with 20 points and 7/13 FG, while at the other side Raphael Gaspardo ('93) nailed 19 with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Group B:
-KK Zagreb 92 Stella Azzurra 82: Crazy game of Dario Saric ('94), leading croatians to the win with a 40 valoration (25 points, 19 rebounds and 3 steals). For italian squad Mario delle Cave ('93) had 17 points, 6 boards and 5 steals.
-Montepaschi 81 CSKA 55: Italians, too much for a young russian team. Giovanni Severini ('93) scored 15 points (3/5 threes) and pulled down 7 boards, while Alexandr Gudumak ('93) had 20 points (7/12 FG) and 6 rebounds. The third quarter (27-9), the key.
-KK Zagreb 72 CSKA 53: Promising Mario Hezonja ('95) led croatian victory with 26 points (5/8 threes) and 15 rebounds. The best russian again, Alexandr Gudumak ('93) with a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals).
-Montepaschi 67 Stella Azzurra 71: Matteo Fallucca ('93) led the Rome's win with 15 points (3/6 threes) and 3 steals, while Diego Monaldi ('93) wasn't enough for Siena (17 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists).
-CSKA 74 Stella Azzurra 87: Russians lost again (0-3) even the good job of youngster Viacheslav Fedorchenko ('95), with 23 points (8/13 FG) and 3 boards. For italians Mirco Turel ('94) ended with 21 points (9/17 FG) and 4 steals.
-KK Zagreb 56 Montepaschi 71: Finally, in the live-or-die game, Siena qualyfied for the big final led by Giovanni Severini ('93) as its best scorer (16 points with 6/11 FG). Mario Hezonja ('95), not enough even he surprised again with 29 points and 14 rebounds.
Standings:
-Group A: Fenerbahce, Lietuvos (2-1), Benetton and Lottomatica (1-2).
-Group B: Montepaschi, KK Zagreb, Stella Azzurra (2-1) and CSKA (0-3).
Photo: Crohoops.com
