Barcelona needs comeback to beat debutant Tofas

U18 FC Barcelona came back from a 15-point deficit to grab a 76-64 victory over debutant U18 Tofas Bursa in its opening game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia. Pau Tendero led the way with 16 points for the 2016 continental champion Barcelona, which used a 23-1 run spanning the second and third quarters to take control of the Group B game. Gael Bonilla collected 12 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks, Matt Marsh had 11 points and Ibou Badji chipped in 5 points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks. Barcelona collected 12 blocks total - tying the all-time ANGT single game team record with three teams, most recently U18 Real Madrid against U18 Mega Bemax Belgrade at the ANGT Finals in May 2019. Ege Peksari paced Tofas with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists while Batin Tuna collected 11 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals in the loss.

Peksari scored four points as Tofas took a 2-8 lead, giving up just one basket in the first 4 minutes. Marsh tallied six points in pulling Barcelona even 10-10. The Turkish side held Barcelona to just 2 points in the final 3 minutes, and 4 points by Bora Satir had Tofas up 12-16 after the first quarter. Tofas allowed just one Barcelona basket in the first 4 minutes of the second quarter and Peksari had 4 points in a 2-12 run to lead 14-28, and it was 16-31 after Hamza Celik’s three-pointer. Barcelona responded with a 14-0 surge over nearly 5 minutes to pull within 30-31 and Marsh’s three-pointer made it 33-32 at the break. Barcelona added the first 6 points of the second half to complete the 23-1 rally for a 39-32 lead. Egemen Usta ended the drought with a three-pointer and added another triple, Peksari had 5 points and Ali Taksin trimmed it to 46-45. Barcelona pulled away again in the final 2 minutes of the quarter with back-to-back triples from Ian Granja to lead 56-46, and it was 56-48 after 30 minutes. Tuna and Esta knocked down long balls early in the fourth to pull within 58-54, but Tendero scored 7 points in a 12-2 run for a 70-56 lead with 2 minutes to play. Tofas could not get closer than six points the rest of the way.