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May 24, 2012

NIKE INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR TOURNAMENT

Lietuvos rytas champ JT Istanbul 2012 - Final Four Istanbul 2012

The 10th Nike International Junior Tournament delivered a new name on the list of champion teams when Lietuvos Rytas beat Fenerbahce Ulker 88-70 in the title game on Sunday afternoon at Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This is the first NIJT title for Rytas after losing the gold in 2009 to INSEP. FB-Ulker lost in its first appearance in the final. Rytas won the title in great fashion winning all four games, three of them, including the title game, by a double-digit margin. Edvinas Seskus had 17 points for the new champs, Augustinas Jankaitis added 15, Tautvydas Jodelis finished with 12 and Alvydas Zarskus collected 11. James Birsen led the runner-ups with 20 points, Umar Atin finished with 13 and Mehmet Sanli collected 11 points with 14 rebounds. One player that made it to the record books of the NIJT is Jokubas Gintvainis of Rytas won dished 10 assists and by that tied the record for most assists in an NIJT final round tournament set by FMP's Nenad Miljenovic in 2009 against Lietuvos Rytas. Fenerbahce Ulker failed to win but small forward James Metecan Birsen claimed the Most Valuable Player trophy. Birsen collected 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals in a losing effort in the final at Sinan Erdem Arena. For the NIJT finals, Birsen averaged 21 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals. Birsen’s top showing came against Zalgiris Kaunas as he scored 23 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal for an index ranking of 27. Birsen also topped the All-Tournament Team, which included Fenerbahce’s 16-year-old point guard Berk Ugurlu, shooting guard Tomas Dimsa from Zalgiris Kaunas and Crvena Zvezda center Dusan Ristic.

ROME
	Citta di Roma Tournament
	The 2011 edition of the Citta di Roma Tournament saw a new champion celebrate as KK Zagreb CO beat Fenerbache-Ulker 62-52 in the final of the tournament. The trophy isnt the only thing Zagreb won but also the first ticket to the 2012 Nike International Junior Tournament that will take place during the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four.

L'HOSPITALET
	Ciutat de L'Hospitalet Tournament
	Lietuvos Rytas won the 33rd edition of the Ciutat de LHospitalet tournament by dethroning FC Barcelona Regal 72-68 in the final behind 21 points from Augustinas Jankaitis and 16 from Tomas Galeckas.

KAUNAS
	Kaunas Tournament
	Host Zalgiris is the champion of Kaunas International Junior Tournament and will be headed to the Nike International Junior Tournament finals during Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four weekend in Istanbul this May.

BELGRADE
	Belgrade Tournament
	In a time-honored rivalry that lived up to its tradition, Crvena Zvezda edged Partizan mt:s by 74-73 on Sunday to win the NIJT Classification Tournament Belgrade final and continue trying to become European junior champion.