U18 Mega Basket star Ognjen Srzentic was named the MVP of the NextGen Istanbul tournament, but he has big goals ahead.

Ognjen Srzentic: 'I am motivated to finally win a NextGen title'

[Ognjen Srzentic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/ognjen-srzentic/012436/) has been at this place before, knowing he will be playing at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four with [U18 Mega MIS Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/teams/u18-mega-mis-belgrade/jmv/). But this time, Srzentic wants to finally hoist the trophy as the continent’s best junior club when it’s all said and done.

Srzentic was named the Most Valuable Player after Mega [downed the U18 NextGen Team Istanbul 86-70](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/news/jt124-next-gen-istanbul-report-mega-next/) to take the crown at the NextGen Istanbul event and book a ticket for the Finals.

“It means a lot \[to be MVP\]. I put in so much work to be here,” said Srzentic, who collected 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals for an average PIR of 30.5 in helping Mega go undefeated in Istanbul.

“Ognjen is a good guy with a great personality. He also has really great skills at both ends of the court. And he’s definitely a leader of this team,” said Mega head coach Milan Vidosavljevic.

Srzentic was playing his third NextGen qualifying tournament and played his best one by far, scoring 25 or more points three times in Istanbul after totaling 38 points at the NextGen Belgrade tournament last season.

Mega will be playing in the Finals for the ninth straight edition and it will be the third for Srzentic, who played just 1 minute in the 2023 Finals in Kaunas before averaging 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in the 2024 Finals.

“I am extra motivated because I played twice in the Finals and both times only lost one game in the group stage and never played in the championship game. So I am motivated to win it all,” he said.

In Kaunas in 2023, Mega lost 89-81 to the NextGen Select Team in the group stage and was defeated 60-55 against U18 Real Madrid in the 2024 Finals group phase.

One season earlier, the 2017 and 2019 finalist Mega finally claimed its first – and still only – continental trophy in the competition, winning the 2022 crown as it downed the NextGen Select Team in the Championship Game. That was also Srzentic’s first season with Mega. And winning the youth title has been on his mind ever since.

“This is my fourth year in the club. From day one, when I came here, the goal was clear: to play in the NextGen tournament. That was the biggest goal for me as a 14-year-old kid who came to Mega. So it means the world to me to be a part of this tournament, and I would love to help my club win the second title.”

One of the things that makes Srzentic’s performance in Istanbul so much more impressive is that he doesn’t play with the Mega junior team this season. He has been playing on loan with Serbian first league side OKK Belgrade and averaging 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.9 steals, though he did play in all three of Mega’s games in the U19 ABA League. Still, the NextGen games were a chance to play with his old friends.

“This the fourth year that some of these guys have been my teammates, so I am really happy to be playing with them and I am really proud that we played together for four years,” he said.

But Srzentic has been helped by playing with OKK Belgrade. 

“Playing senior basketball is a really big experience for me. I play against players who are sometimes 20 years older than me, who play for money and have families who they have to support,” he said. “This year is really important for me to get experience at senior basketball.

I am really happy I was able to translate that experience to this level of youth basketball.”

And now Srzentic will get one last chance to lead his Mega teammates at the NextGen Finals – looking for that elusive second continental title for the club.

The 17-year-old is hungry to lead Mega to its second crown following 2022 success

Ognjen Srzentic had double reason to celebrate U18 Mega MIS Belgrade taking first place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul as he also claimed the Most Valuable Player honors for leading the way

Srzentic named MVP as Mega takes first at NextGen Istanbul

[Ognjen Srzentic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/ognjen-srzentic/012436/) had double reason to celebrate [U18 Mega MIS Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/teams/u18-mega-mis-belgrade/roster/jmv/) taking first place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul as he also claimed the Most Valuable Player honors for leading the way. 

Srzentic paced Mega to the [86-70 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/news/jt124-next-gen-istanbul-report-mega-next/) over U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks for an index rating of 33. Srzentic was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Mega teammate [Pavle Backo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/pavle-backo/012910/), [Jahel Trefle](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/jahel-trefle/013121/) from U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul, U18 Gran Canaria’s [Arthur Tsafack](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/arthur-tsafack/013455/) and [Christos Georgas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/players/christos-georgas/013076/) from U18 Panathinaikos Athens.

Ognjen Srzentic

Pavle Backo

Jahel Trefle

Arthur Tsafack

Christos Georgas

Srzentic finished the tournament with 24.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals for a PIR of 30.5. He led the tournament in scoring and index rating and tied for 7th in rebounds.

Backo collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 29 in the first place game. He averaged 14.2 points on 66.7 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks for an average PIR of 19.8 at the tournament. Despite coming off the bench he was third in the tournament in PIR, tied for eighth in scoring and tied for fifth in offensive rebounds with 2.5.

Trefle scored 15 points with 5 boards in the first place game and finished the tournament with 14.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks for an index rating of 19.0. The French center was eighth in scoring, ninth in rebounds, tied for third in blocks and ranked fourth in index rating

Tsafack collected 15.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 for a PIR of 17.5 for the third-placed finishers, Gran Canaria. The big man ranked fifth in scoring, tied for fifth in rebounds, third in offensive rebounds at 3.2 and seventh in PIR.

Georgas helped Panathinaikos finish with a best-ever fourth-place result thanks to averaging 15.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.2 blocks for an average index rating of 21.5. The forward was second in PIR, sixth in scoring, second in rebounds and first in both steals and blocks.

Mega veteran leads Serbian side to NextGen Finals

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade v U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul (2024-12-01T13:45:00.000Z)

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade booked its ticket to the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals after defeating U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul 86-70 in the NextGen Istanbul first place game

Mega downs NGT to book ticket to NextGen Finals

U18 Mega MIS Belgrade booked its ticket to the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Finals after defeating U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul 86-70 in the NextGen Istanbul first place game. The 2022 continental champion Mega, which also reached the 2017 and 2019 NextGen Championship Game, has now advanced to the season-ending tournament in each of the last nine editions. Mega hit a barrage of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to blow the game open. Ognjen Srzentic paced Mega with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks for an index rating of 33 and Pavle Backo collected 18 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 29. Vuk Danilovic chipped in 10 points including a couple of big triples. NGT dropped its first game of the tournament despite Isaac Guedegbe scoring 16 points with 4 assists and Jahel Trefle adding 15 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.

Game News

The Next Gen pulled ahead early 2-8 with Trefle scoring 4 points. After being limited to 14 points in the last group stage game, Srzentic started hot for Mega with 7 points in a 12-0 run to lead 16-10. A Stratos Papastavrou triple snapped the rut but Mega followed with the next 7 points for the first double-figure lead, 23-13. NGT finished the quarter with the final 4 points to trail 23-17 after 10 minutes. 

A Backo layup to start the second quarter had the Serbian side ahead 25-17. Papastavrou knocked down another triple and Louka Letailleur added a three-point play as NGT got the gap down to 29-28. NGT was twice able to tie the game but the select team could not handle Backo, who had 6 straight points for a 44-37 Mega lead. Te score was 44-40 at the break. 

The combo of Srzentic and Backo carried Mega to a 54-44 lead about 4 minutes into the second half. NGT punched right back with back-to-back three-pointers from Lucas Sanchez and Papastavrou and it was a two-point game again. Mega answered with an 11-1 surge to finish the third quarter with a 65-53 advantage.

Nikola Karalic stepped up early in the final frame with 3 points to establish a 13-point lead 68-55. And Srzentic, Danilovic, Vuk Krunic and Vukasin Musikic all hit three-pointers in a span of 3 minutes and the Mega cushion was 80-63 with less than 3 minutes to play.

2022 champion reaches season-ending tournament for ninth straight edition

Mega downs NGT to book ticket to NextGen Finals 

U18 Gran Canaria clinched third place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul after rolling past U18 Panathinaikos Athens 53-80. Gran Canaria made things clear by allowing just 8 points in the second quarter in matching its third place result from the NextGen Paris last season. All 12 Gran Canaria players scored with Mervedi Miteo leading the way on 17 points and 12 rebounds while Jaime Llabres scored 12 points. Georgios-Angelos Tsakiris finished with 18 points and Christos Georgas had 14 points for Panathinaikos, which finished in fourth place. That is the club’s best ever finish, topping the fifth place at the NextGen Munich in 2023. 

The game was tight for the first quarter with four points being the biggest lead until Tsakiris hit a three-pointer to give Panathinaikos a 17-12 lead and the score was 19-12 after 10 minutes. Tsakiris scored again and the Greeks were ahead 21-12. Gran Canaria shut down the Panathinaikos offense and went on a 1-14 run to lead 22-26. And back-to-back triples increased the cushion to 26-36. The teams went into the break with Gran Canaria leading 27-36. 

Gran Canaria started the second half with the first five points and the margin swelled to 14 points. Panathinaikos tried to get back into the game but couldn’t get closer than nine points and Gran Canaria tallied the final seven points of the third quarter for a 41-58 lead. The run continued with the first four points of the final frame and the score was 41-62. And it would not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way. 

Gran Canaria finishes third at qualifier for second straight season 

Gran Canaria too strong for Panathinaikos in blowout 

U18 Panathinaikos Athens v U18 Gran Canaria (2024-12-01T11:30:00.000Z)

U18 Umana Reyer Venice clinched fifth place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul by defeating U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul 83-76 for its second win in the tournament

Reyer defeats Efes for fifth place 

U18 Umana Reyer Venice clinched fifth place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul by defeating U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul 83-76 for its second win in the tournament. Reyer matched its club-best fifth-place performance from NextGen Podgorica last season. Francesco Eramo collected 27 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, Francesco Corato scored 19 points and Francesco Carnevale and Davide Marini both contributed 10 points in the win. Mert Kocagozaglu led Efes with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and Aldin Turkoglu added 14 points and 8 rebounds. 

Reyer scored the first 6 points and led 8-2 before Efes charged back to claim its first lead 10-12. The Italian side netted the next 7 points to go back ahead but trailed 20-21 after one quarter. Edoardo Bonivento opened the second quarter with the first 4 points to put Reyer back up and they never allowed Efes to get back in front and were leading 36-31 and pushed the gap to 42-36. Efes however was down 42-40 at halftime. 

Efes was behind 45-44 when Reyer reeled off an 11-0 run for a 56-44 cushion and the advantage was 60-47. After 30 minutes, Reyer was up 60-50 and the Italians opened the fourth quarter with the first 2 points for a 12-point gap. Efes fought its way back into the game and pulled within 68-64 with 4 minutes to go. Reyer was back up 77-68 with 109 seconds to play but Efes trailed just 78-76 at the 32-second mark. Carnevale, however, banked in a three-pointer for the dagger with 10 seconds remaining.

The Italian club matches its best-ever NextGen showing 

U18 Umana Reyer Venice v U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul (2024-12-01T09:15:00.000Z)

U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul scored the final 15 points of the game to beat host U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul 67-70 and take seventh place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul

Fenerbahce grabs seventh place with win over city rival Bahcesehir 

U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul scored the final 15 points of the game to beat host U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul 67-70 and take seventh place at the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul. Fenerbahce was winless in the group stage before shocking tournament host and debutant Bahcesehir with the comeback. Omer Ziyaettin scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the final stretch and Urus Urunlu chipped in 14 points. Ahmet Aydin led Bahcesehir with 15 points, Yavuz Kara had 14 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks and Kartal Simsek added 14 points in the loss.

The game was tight for the first 5 minutes with 4 points being the biggest lead until Fenerbahce went up 13-18. It stayed close and Bahcesehir was up 22-21 after the first quarter. The hosts led most of the beginning of the second quarter and went ahead 32-27 and then 37-30. The teams went into the locker rooms with Bahcesehir leading 40-39. 

Fenerbahce reclaimed the lead to start the second half but Bahcesehir moved back in front 47-41 before taking a 53-44 advantage. The debutant took the first double-digit lead at 57-46 and held a 59-48 cushion after 30 minutes. The lead grew to 13 points with the first score of the final frame and the score was 67-55 with 4:51 minutes left in the game. But Fenerbahce was not done yet, finishing the game on a 0-15 run with Yagiz Aggez’s layup tying the game with 67 seconds left and Ziyaettin draining the game-winner with 3.5 seconds remaining. 

Fenerbahce rallies with final 15 points for first victory

U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul v U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul (2024-12-01T07:00:00.000Z)

U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul will face off against U18 Mega MIS Belgrade in the first place game of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul today after both teams went a perfect 3-0 record on Friday and Saturday at the newly renovated Basketball Development Center where the continent’s top young talents battle at the first in a series of four NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournaments.

Watch LIVE: Day 3 of NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul

### Sunday, December 1, 2024

**7th place**: [U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul 67-60 U18 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/game-center/2024-2025-istanbul/u18-bahcesehir-college-istanbul-u18-fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/JTI24/13/)

**5th place**: [U18 Umana Reyer Venice 83-76 U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/game-center/2024-2025-istanbul/u18-umana-reyer-venice-u18-anadolu-efes-istanbul/JTI24/14/)

**3rd place**: [U18 Panathinaikos Athens 53-80 U18 Gran Canaria](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/game-center/2024-2025-istanbul/u18-panathinaikos-athens-u18-gran-canaria/JTI24/15/)

**1st place**: [U18 Mega MIS Belgrade 86-70 U18 NextGen Team Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/ngt/game-center/2024-2025-istanbul/u18-mega-mis-belgrade-u18-next-gen-team-istanbul/JTI24/16/)

Watch Day 3 of NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul

The Adidas NextGen EuroLeague’s 2024-25 season has tipped off this week with its first qualifying tournament in Istanbul at the newly renovated Basketball Development Center. Follow the Day 2 action as the continent’s top young talents battle at the first in a series of four NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournaments.

Watch LIVE: Day 2 of NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournament in Istanbul

### Sunday, December 1, 2024

**7th place**: U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul vs. U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul (8:00 CET)

**5th place**: U18 Umana Reyer Venice vss. U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul (10:15 CET)

**3rd place**: U18 Panathinaikos Athens vs. U18 Gran Canaria (12:30 CET)

**1st place**: U18 Mega MIS Belgrade vs. U18 NextGen Team Istanbul (14:45 CET)

U18 Next Gen Team Istanbul will face off against U18 Mega MIS Belgrade in the first place game of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul on Sunday. Both teams have a perfect 3-0 record after two days of action at the newly renovated Basketball Development Center where the continent’s top young talents battle at the first in a series of four NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournaments.

Day 2: NextGen EuroLeague Qualifying Tournament Istanbul

U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul snatched its first victory of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul by beating U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul 78-59 in the city derby. Efes’ victory gives the Turkish side third place in Group B with a 1-2 record.

Efes blows out Fenerbahce for first win

U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul snatched its first victory of the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul by beating U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul 78-59 in the city derby. Efes’ victory gives the Turkish side third place in Group B with a 1-2 record. Darius Karutasu led the way with 19 points and Demir Ozturk had 16 points for the winners, who will face U18 Umana Reyer Venice for fifth place. Fenerbahce, which was paced by Omer Ziyaettin’s 20 points, went winless in the group and will play host side U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul for seventh place. 

Ziyaettin drained 3 three-pointers in giving Fenerbahce a 2-11 lead early on. Karutasu had five points at the other end and it was 15-17 and Efes was within 19-20 after one quarter. Aldin Turkoglu started the second quarter with two free throws to give Efes its first lead 21-20. Fenerbahce responded with the next seven points to go up 21-27. Efes charged back with a 9-0 surge and led 37-33 at halftime. 

Efes had the better start to the second half and pushed ahead 47-38 and the cushion was extended to 52-40. Efes remained in control and was leading 58-44. Efes put the game to bed with a 12-3 start to the fourth quarter to lead 70-47. Fenerbahce did not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way. 

Efes wins Istanbul derby to take third place in Group B.

U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul v U18 Fenerbahce BEKO Istanbul (2024-11-30T17:15:00.000Z)