Turkey will get their shot at winning back-to-back FIBA Europe Under 18 men’s titles after beating Croatia 74-67 in front of 7,000 fans in Konya. A win for Turkey against Serbia on Sunday would make it the first time since 2011 that the same nation won the Under 20 and Under 18 titles in the same year along with the first time a nation won back to back Under 18 crowns since Yugoslavia in 1986 and 1988.
James Weldon, in town for the FECC had the best take on this one:
@action81 7,000 home fans at a U18 game! There wont be a cow milked for a week in Konya!! pic.twitter.com/20dlo8zHky
— James Weldon (@JamesWeldon1) August 2, 2014
It was a strong team effort from Turkey who went 10 of 18 from three-point range. Ege Arar had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the hosts. Dragan Bender, who was being watched by NBA scouts in the crowd (thanks to Weldon for that info) had one of his quieter games with 10 points and 6 boards. In each of their last two games, Croatia were able to lean on a second half surge but Turkey showed more variety on offence than Italy or Spain and that proved telling in this one. Meanwhile in Sofia…
Germany booked their place back in the A division as they beat Sweden 64-59 in the second of Saturday’s semi-finals. Mahir Agva came up big with 16 points and 13 boards while Andreas Obst scored 22 points to book Germany’s place in the final against Ukraine.
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