The adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals got underway on Thursday morning with five-time champion U18 Real Madrid making a strong opening statement, overpowering U18 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, 58-109, at Sunel Arena in Athens. The chief architect was Fabian Kayser, who combined 21 points with 7 assists and 3 blocked shots. Egor Amosov shined with 18 points and 4 steals, and there were also double-digit scoring performances from Andrej Bjelic (16), Gunars Grinvald (13), Ousmane Diarra (12), Omer Kutluay (12) and Ilia Frolov (10). Cedevita’s offense was dominated by two players, as Maks Ciperle netted a game-high 24 points while Cameron Houindo added 18. Real’s stellar collective effort was powered by 17 three-pointers, coupled with an intense defense which forced Cedevita into 25 turnovers. Cedevita started hot by scoring the first 4 points, but then Kayser drained a pair of triples in a 0-11 run to give Real control. The Spanish side kept on firing to establish a 16-26 margin by the en...