Duquesne F Leads FIBA U20 Euro Championship in Scoring

Duquesne forward Jakub Necas capped off an impressive FIBA U20 European Championship with perhaps his strongest performance of the week.

Necas — a 6-foot-8, 210-pound sophomore forward from Blansko, Czech Republic — poured in 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting (6-of-10 from beyond the arc) and added nine rebounds, five assists and four steals, another strong showing for the Czechia national despite a 94-86 loss to Lithuania in the final game of the tourney.

It was a strong weekend for Necas, who also shined in a 79-78 win over Poland on Saturday, leading a 20-point fourth quarter comeback. he compiled 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists on 8-of-15 shooting (4-of-9 from beyond the arc). And he made all four of his free throw attempts.

Necas finished as the leading scorer at the FIBA U20 Euro Championship, averaging 18.6 points per game (44% from the field and 38.8% from beyond the arc), 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

He put together his best performances of the tournament against Poland and Lithuania, and aside from a showing against Germany in which he only played 12 minutes, Necas hit double digits in each of his six games — hitting 20, 20, 18, 19, 24 and 29 points in the process. He was one of the best and most versatile scorers in the tourney.

The Czech Republic lost its first three games of the tourney before knocking off Serbia earlier in the week and Poland over the weekend. Despite a loss to Lithuania to conclude the tourney, it was a very strong week for Necas in Poland — and Czechia.

Necas appeared in 34 games as a freshman for Duquesne, all off the bench. He played just 11 minutes per contest but played a huge role — 30 minutes and 22 minutes — in Duquesne’s two NCAA Tournament games.

Against BYU, Necas shined, shooting 4-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, for 12 points in the upset win. He had five games of at least seven points as a rookie, including a key 8-point performance in the low-scoring Atlantic 10 Championship game win over VCU, including two 3-pointers.