U18 Belgian Lions survive rough second half

At the U18 European Championship our U18 Lions were able to survive a rough second half to get away with the 73-77 victory against Turkey.

Belgium got off to a hot start and quickly ran out to a 14-21 lead to finish out the opening quarter. Our youngsters remained in control in the second quarter as well and increased their lead to 31-45 at the half.

Things continued to look good for our youngsters at the start of the third quarter as they increased their lead to a 19 point advantage (38-57) on a strong drive by Efono, forcing Turkey in a timeout. After the timeout Turkey came out swinging. With very agressive defense and a much better offensive production they started chipping away at their deficit. From being down by 19 they rallied back to 58-64 at the end of the third quarter. Belgium’s offense got completely swarmed by the Turkish defense and weren’t able to get anything done, while Turkey found the basket to get all the way back to within 1 (63-64). Luckily Elouna Eyenga and Hodge were able to find some openings, leading Belgium back to a 63-69 advantage, headed into the final 3 minutes of the game. Again Turkey rallied back but lay-ups by Tallir and Efono, followed by FT’s from Elouna Eyenga kept Belgium ahead for the 73-77 final score.

Jarne Elouna Eyenga was our top-performer in this game as he finished with 15 pts & 8 rebs, while Corentin Efono added 14 pts, 8 rebs & 6 asts. Oskar Giltay was also very solid as he finished with 7 pts, 8 rebs & 5 blks!

Belgium goes to a 2-0 record and will now face Germany tomorrow, their last opponent in the group phase.