U18 Tofas Bursa 61-57 U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade

U18 Tofas Bursa grabbed third place in the ANGT Belgrade by defeating U18 Next Generation Team Belgrade 61-57.

Tofas scored 16 straight points in the fourth quarter and Omer Engin hit 2 free throws with 20 seconds left as Tofas finished the tournament with three wins after having lost all four games in both of its previous two ANGT appearances. Kerem Konan led the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks while Ege Demir picked up 16 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocks in the win. NGB, which was coached by legendary playmaker Vassilis Spanoulis, finished the tournament with two wins in its debut. Luka Krajnovic paced the selection team with 18 points while Samet Yigitoglu had 6 points and 9 rebounds and Filip Malesevic added 3 points and 11 rebounds.

NGB needed more than 2 minutes to score and Demir tallied 4 points for Tofas in building an 11-3 lead after more than 4 minutes. The selection team held Tofas scoreless for 4 minutes and Krajnovic's three-pointer evened the score at 11-11. It was 13-13 after 10 minutes. Tofas had the better start to the second quarter, leading 19-15. But NGB's defense again held tough while David Pavin and Toni Bilic hit three-pointers in a 0-13 run over 6 minutes to lead 19-28. Pavin hit another triple and the halftime score was 20-31.

Tofas trailed 24-33 when it went scoreless for more than 3 minutes and Filip Jovic scored 4 points in helping NGB push the cushion to 24-40. Konan stopped the rut and hit for 7 points to bring Tofas within 33-42. Yigitoglu responded with two scores and NGB led 37-47 after 30 minutes. Eray Buyukcangaz increased the lead to 12 points to start the final frame before Tofas kept NGB scoreless for more than 5 minutes while Demir and Can Cevikel both had 6 points in a 16-0 run to go in front 53-49. Yigitoglu finally got NGB back on the board and 4 points from Buyukcangaz trimmed the deficit to 58-57 with 73 seconds remaining. After 3 straight turnovers and a NGB missed shot, Engin made both free throws for a 60-57 cushion with 20 seconds left and Cem Kucukozkan split two with 7 seconds to play for the win.