Gran Canaria shuts down Tofas for first win

U18 Herbalife Gran Canaria ran away with a 36-77 victory over U18 Tofas Bursa for its first win at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia. Jean Montero led the way with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Pedro Lopez-Sanvicente scored 17 points and Gerardo Perez picked up 14 points for Gran Canaria, which allowed just 13 points in the second half in improving to 1-1 in Group B. Hamza Celik scored 13 points to lead Tofas, which dropped to 0-2 in its first ANGT appearance.

Gran Canaria held Tofas to one free throw in the first 5 minutes but could only build a 1-4 lead. Celik’s three-pointer made it 4-4 only to see Perez and Lopez-Sanvicente hit triples in a 0-11 run to lead 4-15. And the score was 9-17 after 10 minutes. After Lopez-Sanvicente pushed the advantage to 9-21, Tofas put together a 9-0 run to pull within 18-21. Gran Canaria answered with a 1-18 surge with Montero and Lopez-Sanvicente both knocking down two long balls for a 19-39 cushion. And the Spanish side was ahead 23-43 at intermission. Tofas scored the first four points of the second half but then watched Gran Canaria run away with a 2-23 run over the final 8 minutes of the third quarter with Montero knocking down two three-pointers and scoring 8 points for a 29-66 lead after 30 minutes. Gran Canaria finished off Tofas with a 3-11 start to the fourth quarter for a 32-77 lead. Tofas did not get closer the rest of the way.