U18 VEF Riga claimed seventh place at the Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Kaunas with an 86-81 victory over U18 Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul for its first win of the weekend. Niks Linis tallied 21 points for the winners and Oskars Hlebovickis added 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks for an index rating of 31 for VEF. Fenerbahce finished last in the competition with one victory. Ismail Karabilen paced Fenerbahce with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

VEF used an early 9-2 run to jump ahead 13-6. Karabilen scored two baskets at the other end as Fenerbahce evened the game at 18-18, but VEF nosed in front 26-24 after 10 minutes. The Latvian side led 30-27 when Cem Kirciman and Yigit Kocak each scored 4 points in a 2-12 Fenerbahce run for a 32-39 advantage. Fenerbahce remained ahead, 38-45, at halftime. Fenerbahce had the better start to the second half with Efe Ergi Tirpanci and Karabilen combining for 10 points in a 5-14 surge for a 46-57 cushion. But VEF closed the third quarter on a 4-14 run with Hlebovickis scoring 5 points to make it 62-63 after 30 minutes. Matiss Surkulis netted 5 points in a 10-1 spurt to give VEF a 72-68 lead. Fenerbahce punched back with a 3-11 run and went ahead 75-79. But VEF held Fenerbahce scoreless for the final 2:35 minutes and Rodrigo Bumeisters hit a big layup and 2 free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the win.