MANISA (Türkiye) - Aliaga Petkimspor ended their maiden Youth BCL tournament on a high with a 79-68 win over fellow newcomers Spartak Office Shoes.
Another two newcomers faced off in the second game of the day, with Italians, Pallacanestro Reggiana, earning a hard-fought 92-79 victory over Telekom Baskets Bonn.
The third-placed game was a much tighter affair, with Tofas Bursa maintaining their impressive record of climbing the podium every year so far in the YBCL. They eventually ran out 83-72 winners over a short-handed and valiant Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg.
The Final was saw another dominant display from Rytas Vilnius as they went back to back and became the first club to win two YBCL titles with a dominant 109-76 triumph over Filou Oostende
Let's dive into the final takeaways from the 2025 YBCL.
#1 NEXT YEAR IS GOING TO BE EVEN MORE COMPETITIVE
A total of 36 players across the four teams playing in the game fifth to eighth-placed games will be eligible to come back next year: 11 from Aliaga Petkimspor, 8 from Spartak Office Shoes, 7 from Pallacanestro Reggiana, and 3 from Telekom Baskets Bonn.
Considering all of those teams made their debut this year and came into the tournament with no reference point for what they would face, the fact all of these teams managed to make the top 10 in their first year and also have such a strong cast of returning players, should give us a pretty good idea of just how competitive next year will be.
Case in point for Petkimspor: 2008-born seven-footer Ahmet Kerim Andic ended his tournament with 20 points and 17 rebounds, on 75 percent shooting against Spartak.
He was joined by another 2008-born star, Cafer Hasoglu, who dropped 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists to steer the team from Izmir to seventh place.
For Reggiana, 2.12 big man, El Hadji Mame Samba Deme, forced his way into the All Star Five with another monster box score. He put up 17 points and 15 rebounds on 60 percent shooting.
He was joined by 2008-born Italy U16 International Pablo Abreu who had 18 points and 9 rebounds.
Combined the two proved too much for a spirited Bonn team and can probably count themselves a little unlucky they met Rytas Vilnius so early in the tournament, otherwise a finish higher than fifth could have been on the cards for Reggiana.
#2 THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT FOR TOFAS BURSA
Tofas and the YBCL podium go together like ice cream and a hot summer's day. For the third straight year, the team from Bursa finished in the Top 3 of this competition again and what's more, 11 of this current roster will be eligible next year.
They will surely be a strong favorite to challenge for the podium and, just maybe, another tilt at finally winning the title next year.
Tofas led the game front to back, with the lead pumping to 19 at the mid point of the third quarter when Ahmet Berkay Gonul put them up 60-41.
To their credit, Ludwigsburg showed the spirit they have carried all week and reduced the lead to seven at the start of the fourth. A Sebastian Kuhn three-pointer made it 70-63 with eight minutes to play in the game.
Ludwigsburg were always facing a mountain to climb in this one after losing forward Daniel Biel before the game, which only compounded the challenged they already faced from the departures of 2009-born stars Yohann Tchouaffe and Kenan Youdom for personal reasons before the Semi-Final.
They have their own returning cast to count on next season as well, eight of their squad are eligible to return next year and make a run at the podium.
One of those 2008-born players, German U16 point guard, Lars Danziger, ended the game with 13 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds, whilst new recruit, and also 2008-born forward, Lars Lenke, had 19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 assists.
For Tofas, Yucel Cagin Basaran and Enes Akman signed off strong tournaments and their second YBCL campaigns with 20 and 16 points each, respectively.
Basaran had 4 assists and 4 steals to go with his, whilst Akman continued his trademark hustle with 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block.
#3 THAT RYTAS ROAR WAS TOO LOUD
We heard from MVP Ignas Urbonas before the Semi-Final against Tofas that his Rytas Vilnius team likes to bark and bite.
"Like dogs, like wolves, we like to bite, run, show emotions "- Ignas Urbonas
That bark was more like a roar when Rytas entered the court before the Final against Filou Oostende and the way they played proved again that they have a level of ferocity in their game that nobody else in Manisa could live with.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, Rytas had won their four games in Year 3 of the YBCL by an average of 44 points!
The game started off looking like Oostende's floor spacing and ball movement could cause the Lithuanians some problems.
The ever-impressive Daan Pieters stepped up to the line and gave the Belgians a 5-4 lead with eight minutes to go in the first quarter, and to their credit, Oostende were able to compete for the entire first quarter.
Tim Waerniers had a shot at the rim, on the last play of the first quarter, blocked by the uber-athletic Arminas Vilkas. Had that dropped, the Rytas lead would have been less than 10.
The next key moment in the game that really separated the two teams was late in the second quarter. From an Oostende miss at the rim, Mantas Liutkevcius fizzed the ball up the floor at the kind of pace you only see in men's basketball.
The ball quickly changed hands and when Rytas couldn't find a good look in transition, they quickly dropped it into the post for Adomas Pocius who pinged a pass out to big man Matas Deniusas.
Deniusas was stretching the floor and knocked down a three-ball to put Rytas up 55-37. The game was already broken and it was broken by a level of execution that would be appreciated by a crowd watching a senior, professional game.
The second half saw Rytas depth and experience prove too much for Oostende to mount a comeback.
Daan Pieters and Tim Waerniers underlined their All-Star Five status with 19 points and 15 points, respectively. Lars Coppejans also knocked down some big shots on his way to 14 points on 67 percent shooting from deep.
Ignas Urbonas earned himself back-to-back MVP awards to go with his second YBCL title.
He had another dominant 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 asissts. His teammate Gabrielius Bubnys joined him in the All-Star Five with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 71 percent shooting.