The two best turkish teams will face eachother tomorrow in the big final of the U-16 Final Round, an event held these days in Kastamonu. Fenerbahce -at the pic- Ulker and Galatasaray made it today after beating Efes Pilsen and Besiktas in the semifinals. Forward James Metecan Birsen ('95), #1 of Eurohopes'95, will try to drive his team to the title. He is averaging 11.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists, but he is struggling with the shot (39% twos, 10% threes and 55% ft). But he won't be alone. Ayberk Güleryüz ('95) and Mehmet Sanli ('95) are making a good tournament, averaging 12.6 points and 6.8 rebounds and 11.8 and 9.0. At the other side Yiğit Özgür Bariºik ('95) is the leader with 14.8 points and 2.6 assists, while Deniz Kruszynski ('95) is making many things: 7.8 points, 5.6 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals. Let's check what happened today in the semifinals.

 

Galatasaray 65 Besiktas 63: Even the crazy contest of Hakan Köse ('95), who scored 29 points (12/14 FG) and pulled down 10 rebounds, Galatasaray made it to the final led by Yiğit Özgür Bariºik ('95). The prospect had 21 points (9/17 FG) in 29 minutes. The winners made a good job in the first half (+18), keeping the distances in the third and fourth quarters. For Galatasaray Deniz Kruszynski ('95) flirted with the triple double (6pt+11rb+8as), while at the losing effort Kartal Özmizrak ('95) missed to many shots (2/14 FG), finishing with 4 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

 

Efes Pilsen 63 Fenerbahce Ulker 64: Also a tied game, with Mehmet Sanli ('95) leading the victory with 15 points (6/9 FG), 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Beside hime rising-star James Metecan Birsen ('95) ended with 10 points, 10 boards and 6 assists, while Ayberk Güleryüz ('95) collected another double-double: 13 points and 11 rebounds, even 5/19 FG. For Efes Pilsen youngster Okben Ulubay ('97) tailled 19 points (0/7 from downtown) and grabbed 5 rebounds. Talented Cedi Osman ('95) also missed too much: 12 points with 3/13 FG.  

 

Photo: Fenerbahce Ulker