U18 Stellazzurra Basketball Academy Rome extended its winning streak at the Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Torneo Citta di Roma by easing past U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul 72-54. Stellazzurra, which had already locked up its third straight berth in the ANGT Rome final before the game, collected its seventh straight win over the past two Rome events. Sandro Mamukelashvili led the way with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals while 14-year-old Dorde Pazin chipped in 16 points, 6 rebounds and 1 block and Gugliermo Caruso tallied 13 points. Efes lost its third straight game despite Burak Nurkan scoring 20 points and Ismet Avsar tallying 17 points. Efes finished in last place in Group A and will take on the last-placed finisher in Group B for seventh place at the ANGT Rome.

After Caruso opened the scoring for Stellazzurra with a steal and layup, Nurkan scored 6 points in an 0-8 run for Efes. Caruso stopped the spurt only to see Nurkan nail a three-pointer and increase the margin to 4-11. It was 7-14 after Mamukelashvili and Avsar swapped three-balls. Efes failed to score in the final 3:18 minutes of the first quarter and Scott Ulaneo tallied 4 points in a 9-0 spurt as Stellazzurra was up 16-14 after 10 minutes. Mamukelashvili and Pazin started the second quarter with three-balls as the advantage swelled to 25-14. Hakan Emiroglu’s free throw was Efes’s first point in the quarter but Pazin made a foul shot and a basket to increase the margin to 29-16. Emiroglu added 3 more free throws and Avsar knocked down a three-pointer to trim the margin to 29-22. But Mamukelashvili nailed 2 more triples in an 8-0 run to make it 37-22. Efes did get 2 three-pointers from Nurkan to make it a single-digit game 40-31. But the host team led 42-31 at intermission.

Donato Vitale’s three-pointer opened the second half for Stellazzurra with Emiroglu hitting first for Efes in the third quarter. The Turkish club’s offense went ice cold with 10 missed shots and 2 turnovers while Stellazzurra scored 9 straight points for a 54-33 cushion. Avsar ended the nine-minute scoreless stretch with a three-pointer and added another basket as the gap was 54-38 after 30 minutes. Efes refused to give up as Avsar nailed 2 three-pointers and Arda Erdogan hit a trey of his own to trim the margin to 56-49. Jordan Philippe Bayehe answered with back-to-back baskets for Stellazzurra as the cushion was 60-49 with 6 minutes remaining. And Pazin made it a 13-point advantage inside the 4-minute mark. Nurkan tried to get Efes close with a three-point play and Erdogan’s free throw trimmed it to 62-53 with 3 minutes left. But Lazar Nikolic scored his first basket of the game for Stellazzura and Babacar Seye nailed a three-pointer to decide the game for good.