One of Europe's most recognized clubs for nurturing young talent, FIATC Joventut Badalona of Spain, will debut at the Nike International Junior Tournament finals in London after winning the 35th Ciutat de L'Hospitalet title by defeating Real Madrid 77-67 on Sunday. Joventut did not trail after the game's second minute, had double-digit leads in each of the last three quarters, and turned back several Real Madrid rallies.
Gerard Gomila (’95) came off the bench to lead Joventut with 25 points. Agusti Sans (’95) follwed him with 15 points plus 8 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Jose Nogues (’95), who was on the all-tournament team, added 14 points. Madrid got 19 points from Alberto Martin (’95), 15 from Valter Lindstron (’95), another all-tournament team member, and a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds by Waly Niang (’96). Jonathan Kasibabu (’96) had 14 rebounds for Madrid.
Joventut joins KK Spars Sarajevo, winner of the recent Torneo Citta di Roma, as the first two teams qualified to the NIJT inals in London from May 9 to 13, running parallel to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four! Joventut had won its semifinal earlier Sunday by defeating local rival FC Barcelona Regal, which later pulled away to a 91-68 victory for third place over Cajasol Sevilla, the team that Real Madrid had defeated in the morning to reach the title game.
The MVP of the tournament was Emir Sulejmanovic (’95) of Union Olimpija Ljubljana, who averaged 20 points and 13.5 rebounds over four games that his team split. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Nogues of Badalona, Kristaps Porzingis (’95) of Cajasol Sevilla, Mario Hezonja (’95) of FC Barcelona Regal and Lindstron of Madrid. Joventut joins KK Spars Sarajevo, winner of the recent Torneo Citta di Roma, as the first two teams qualified to the NIJT inals in London from May 9 to 13, running parallel to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four.
All-Tournament Team:
Jose Nogues: 17.2 points (46.2% 3FGs), 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1 steal in 31:03 minutes
Kristaps Porzingis: 16.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, 1 steals, 0.8 assist in 26:23 minutes
Mario Hezonja: 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2 steals in 27:47 minutes
Valter Lindstron: 14 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 0.4 steals in 29:07 minutes
Emir Sulejmanovic: 20 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks in 32:11 minutes
Final standings: 1. FIATC Joventut, 2. Real Madrid, 3. FC Barcelona, 4. Cajasol Seville, 5. Union Olimpija Ljubljana, 6. Maccabi Tel Aviv, 7. KK Split, 8. CB L'Hospitalet
