U18 Tofas Bursa collected its second victory in two games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade with a 67-73 win over U18 Valencia Basket in Group A.
U18 Valencia Basket 67-73 U18 Tofas Bursa
Game Report
1 Min read
Kerem Konan led the winners with 18 points while Ege Demir collected 17 points and 5 blocks. Baran Yurdusen tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds and Berke Buyuktuncel contributed 12 points to get Tofas to a 2-0 mark. Sergio De Larrea flirted with a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists for Valencia, which lost its second straight for a 0-2 record. Pablo Navarro added 17 points in the loss.
The game was tight for the whole first quarter, with Demir scoring 6 points for Tofas and De Larrea picking up 7 at the other end. And a Navarro three-point play had Valencia up 18-14. Tofas finished the first quarter with the final 6 points to lead 18-20 after 10 minutes. Pablo Luengo and De Larrea both hit triples and Valencia was back ahead 25-23. The lead switched hands three times, with Yurdusen converting a three-point play before Buyuktuncel made it 31-36. Tofas went into the break ahead 35-39.
Tofas had the better start to the second half and Buyuktuncel had 5 points as the cushion grew to double figures 40-50. And a Konan three-pointer made it 44-55 before the score was 51-59 after 30 minutes. Tofas hit the first 4 points of the final frame and Valencia needed nearly 3 minutes to finally score. The Turkish side led 53-65 with 6 minutes left but then failed to execute offensively, getting just 2 free throws while 2 scores from Navarro made it 63-67. Demir answered with a big putback dunk only to see Navarro convert a four-point play and it was 67-69 with a minute to play. Konan hit two free throws and after a Valencia turnover, Buyuktuncel iced the game with a layup.