Mega moves into first place game.
Mega needs tough fight to see off Bahcesehir
Game Report
3 Mins read
The 2022 continental champion U18 Mega MIS Belgrade clinched a spot in the Adidas NextGen EuroLeague Istanbul first place game with a tougher than expected 53-64 victory over host side U18 Bahcesehir College Istanbul. Mega could never put away the NextGen debutant and finally finished strong for a perfect 3-0 mark in Group A. After scoring 59 points combined in the first two games, Ognjen Srzentic was held to 14 points but did add 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Pavle Backo scored 13 points and Vid Krunic picked up 10 points for Mega. Bahcesehir could have won the group with a victory but ended up last with a 1-2 record - finishing behind U18 Panathinaikos Athens and U18 Umana Reyer Venice. Yavuz Kara was Bahcesehir’s top scorer with 13 points and Ahmet Aydin added 12 points.
Bahcesehir led 4-2 in the early going as it played tough defense against the number one offense, and the lead was 7-6. Petar Ostojic answered with five points and Mega star Srzentic needed more than 6 minutes to finally score, but added two triples for a 10-18 lead. And Mega was up 14-20 after the first quarter. Bahcesehir trailed just 18-20 in the opening moments of the second quarter and then Backo scored six straight points for an 18-28 Mega cushion. Bahcesehir’s defense stood strong and allowed the team to stay within 24-30. Bahcesehir went more than 2 minutes without a point and fell behind 24-35, but went into the break down 26-35.
The host side picked up the first four points of the second half and was only down 30-35. Mega finally started to get some points with Backo adding four more points and the gap was 30-41. Bahcesehir briefly got the deficit down to six points but trailed 39-48 after three quarters. Bahcesehir would not go away and Aydin’s three-pointer made it 45-48. Mega could not put away Bahcesehir and Pamir Suvari scored two baskets to trail just 51-54 with under 4 minutes to play. Backo hit a big three-pointer and Krunic converted a layup and Mega was back up 10 points - 51-61 - with under 2 minutes to play.
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