Olimpija downs Fenerbahce for second victory

U18 Petrol Olimpija Ljubljana collected its second victory at the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade by defeating U18 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul 79-85 and will play in the third-place game. Uros Sikanic led the way with 21 points plus 11 rebounds for Olimpija, which finished Group B play with a 2-1 record and will next take on U18 Olympiacos Piraeus on Sunday. Teo Fajfer scored 12 points, Miha Crkvenik had 11, and Kim Klavzar contributed with 10 in victory. Fenerbahce had David Mutaf collect 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, while Ekrem Sancakli picked up 13 points but they were not enough as the Turkish side dropped to 0-3 and will face U18 Cedevita Zagreb in the seventh-place game.

Ekrem Sancakli picked up four points early on as Fenerbahce went ahead 12-7. And a David Mutaf three-pointer left the Turkish side up 18-13. Robert Jurkovic and Teo Fajfar knocked down three-pointers at the other end as Olimpija trailed 22-21 after 10 minutes. Alen Malovcic, Peter Vukovic and Miha Cerkvenir all hit three-pointers for Olimpija in pulling ahead 24-30. Sikanic added 7 straight points as the advantage grew to 29-37. Yigit Onan responded with a three-pointer to start a 9-1 Fenerbahce run to even the game 38-38 and the score was 40-40 at the break. The third quarter went back and forth with 5 ties and 13 lead changes. A Fajfar three-pointer and two Malovcic free throws gave Olimpija the lead 57-61. Alp Kepenc answered with a three-ball of his own and Fenerbahce trailed just 62-63 after 30 minutes. Five straight points by Onan gave Fenerbahce the lead back but Fajfar scored two straight baskets to start an 0-8 run to pull Olimpija ahead 67-74. Ege Ulker stopped the surge but Sikanic scored two baskets and Cerkvenir nailed a three-pointer to push the margin to 71-85 with less than 2 minutes left to decide the game.