Former two-time EuroLeague champ Balbay debuts as NGT Istanbul coach
NextGen team dominates in opening win of Efes
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The U18 Next Gen Istanbul team opened the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul with comfortable 54-99 victory over U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Group B. With former two-time EuroLeague champion Dogus Balbay debuting as coach, the NGT took the first quarter 6-32 and never looked back.
Christopher Ebunangombe led the way with 16 points and 5 assists, Jahel Trefle had 13 points and 6 rebounds and Isaac Guedegbe chipped in 9 points and 7 assists. Aldin Turkoglu was Efes’ top scorer with 14 points.
NGT scored the first seven points of the game and already led 4-17 when the selection team reeled off a 2-15 run to finish the first quarter with a 6-32 lead. Things did not get any easier for Efes with a 1-14 surge for an 11-48 advantage. The Turkish side was able to score a bit more in the second half of the second quarter and trailed 23-56 at halftime.
With the team playing its first game of the competition, NGT kept its foot on the gas in looking how to play with one another. The lead was 31-60 and then 39-67 before NGT finished the third quarter with the last nine points to lead 39-76. NGT did not let up at all in the final 10 minutes in a blowout.