Heralded as the best 1997-born European prospect, Bender demonstrated why such hype surrounds him, stealing the limelight on a stacked Croatian team at the U18 European Championship, despite being a year younger than his peers. With a do-it-all game, Bender played his way onto the All-Tournament team with a series of all-round performances which twice included narrowly missing out on triple doubles, one of which was the bronze medal game when he finished with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, assuring his team the final available spot on the podium.

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