Fenerbahce beats Tofas for first win

U18 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul picked up its first victory of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul by winning 59-69 over fellow Turkish side U18 Tofas Bursa. Baran Aslan led the way with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks for Fenerbahce, which finished Group B play with a 1-2 record and will take on U18 Casademont Zaragoza for fifth place on Sunday. Berkay Yilmaz and Yusuf Bayrak both chipped in 13 points, Goktug Gucoglu had 12 points and Efe Oztekin contributed 8 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks in the win. Tofas failed to win a game in the group phase and will face U18 Basket Brno for seventh place. Ege Demir scored 14 points as Tofas’ leading scorer with Berke Buyuktuncel adding 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Aslan hit two three-pointers to start the scoring for Fenerbahce and it was close until a 5-0 spurt by Tofas to go up 16-11. Sayhan Yetkin also hit a triple and Bayrak converted a three-point play in a 2-9 run to pull ahead 18-22. Tofas however was up 22-20 after 10 minutes. Gucoglu was twice on target from deep as Fenerbahce led 26-30 midway through the second quarter. Buyuktuncel and Arda Konuk knocked down triples at the other end and Tofas led 34-32 at the break.

Fenerbahce gained control of the game with a 0-12 run early in the second half with Yilmaz and Oztekin draining three-pointers for a 36-44 advantage. Aslan added two more triples and the margin was 37-50 with Fenerbahce leading 43-53 after 30 minutes. Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes of the fourth quarter until Yilmaz made it 43-55. Ege Peksari answered with a three-pointer but Gucoglu hit two baskets for Fenerbahce and the advantage was 50-65 with 3 minutes left. Tofas could not get closer than eight points the rest of the way.