 The 9th edition of the Nike International Junior Tournament tipped off on Thursday afternoon with Fenerbache-Ulker grabbing an 80-78 win over FMP to take a 1-0 record in Group A, while FMP fell to 0-1. A huge block by Erbil Eroglu in the closing seconds denied FMP a chance to send the game into overtime. Berkay Candan shined for the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Eroglu followed with 16 points, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks, including the game-clincher. Nuri Gul Guney and Oguzhan Turan added 12 points each. FMP saw Stefan Popovski-Turanjanin carry the way with 21 points, Nikola Pavlovic scored 17 points and Nemanja Bezbradica added 16 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks but fouled out to miss to last minutes on the floor. The teams went neck-to-neck for 40 minutes it came down to the final possessions.. Tomorrow FB-Ulker will take on INSEP while FMP meets KK Zagreb.
 Candan came out strong offensively, scoring more than half of Fenerbache's first 14 points, but FMP led 27-24 after 10 minutes. Dusan Ristic and Popovski-Turanjanin pushed FMP to an 8 point lead, but Eroglu stepped up with points, steals and assists to help his team finish the first half up by a point 40-41. Bezbradica added points in the paint, and FMP once again took off to grab an 8 point lead, but Candan turned up defensively, too, and Turac hit from the arc as the teams entered the closing quarter with just one point between them, this time in favor of FMP 59-58. The two drew to a 71-71 tie, led by Candan and Popovski-Turanjanin, respectively. After Bezbradica fouled out with 2 minutes to play, Turan hit twice from the foul line as Fenerbache took a 78-76 lead. In its last possession FMP had time to tie the game, but Eroglu reached out for the big block , securing the win for Fenerbache.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Euroleague.net
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