Efes uses late run to beat Zaragoza in ANGT opener

Host side U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul opened the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul with an 83-68 victory over U18 Casademont Zaragoza. Yigit Tekin and Muhammet Gunes both scored 14 points for Efes, which took control of the game with a 15-2 run in the fourth quarter of the Group A contest. Koralp Turk added 12 points and 8 rebounds while Ozan Yilmaz chipped in 6 points, 8 assists and 6 steals. Zaragoza could not take advantage of Aday Mara collecting 18 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks. Gustav Knudsen had 10 points and 9 rebounds but also committed six of Zaragoza's 29 turnovers. Also, Zaragoza made just 4-of-21 three-pointers for 19.1%.

Karahan Efeoglu hit a three-pointer early on as Efes jumped ahead 8-4. Mara scored six points at the other end in a 1-8 answer as Zaragoza led 9-12. A Gunes triple helped the host team even the game 16-16 after 10 minutes. Efes went scoreless for more than 3 minutes and Daniel Arjol picked up four points in a 0-8 surge as Zaragoza went up 20-26. But Efes countered with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 28-26 and was up 30-28 at the break.

The third quarter was tight throughout until Alvaro Martinez had a three-point play and Antonio Moreno drained a triple for a 40-44 Zaragoza lead. But Enes Gul and Tolga Kay hit from deep in a 12-2 surge to put Efes up 56-48 and it was 56-50 after 30 minutes. Zaragoza had the better start to the fourth quarter as Josep Cera knocked down three three-pointers and the Spanish side led 61-63. But Efes got triples from Yilmaz and Gunes in a 15-2 run for a 78-66 lead and eventually the win.