Mouhammadou Jaiteh delivered a stellar performance, but could not prevent France's loss to hosts Turkey



The Turgut Atakol tournament, which is held annually in Istanbul, aspires to maintain its status as a prestigious U20 Men friendly competition and gather future basketball stars in front of the Turkish public.

If the opening day of its 19th edition, which tipped off on Wednesday with the participation of eight European Division A national teams, is anything to go by, the Turgut Atakol tournament will far exceed its expectations this year.

Hosts Turkey, France, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Poland are this year's participating teams.

Several of their young stars, who are expected to shine bright at the U20 European Championship in Greece in less than two weeks' time, showed on Wednesday that they will be arriving at the big event in fine form.

In the big clash of the day, which concluded Wednesday action at the Abdi Ipekci arena, hosts Turkey edged out France 65-62, to the delight of the local crowd.

France started better and led by as many as eight points before settling for an 18-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Turkey balanced proceedings in the second quarter and tied the scores at 30 by the half-time buzzer.

The hosts appeared to be pulling away when they finally enjoyed a long stretch of free-flowing offence in the third period and jumped to a 51-42 lead.

France however slowed the tempo and made excellent use inside of the outstanding on the night Mouhammadou Jaiteh to reduce the gap to three points in the clutch.

The Turkish side however held on to enter the final minute with a 60-56 advantage and from then on they kept their calm at the free-throw line to clinch the victory.

Tayfun Erülkü and Cedi Osman paved the way for the winners as they collected 12 points and five rebounds each, while Metin Türen chipped in with 10 points and five boards.

For France, Jaiteh finished with a game-high 33 points and added nine rebounds in a losing effort.

Previously at the Abdi Ipekci, Montenegro prevailed 63-61 over Russia in an encounter that featured a somewhat surprisingly too-close-for-comfort finale.

Montenegro led from the start and gradually built for themselves an 11-point gap, midway through the third quarter.

It was then when Russia decided to react and they unleashed an assault that would see them turn around the tables and convert the entire final frame into a thrilling affair.

With the two sides trading baskets and the lead on almost every other possession, Russia made a couple of crucial turnovers in the final minutes and Montenegro had the last word.

Montenegro owe great part of their victory to the trio of Masan Vrbica, who finished with 13 points and four assists, Milovan Draskovic, who had 12 points, and Nikola Zizic, who added 10 points and five boards.

For Russia, Mikhail Kulagin finished with 14 points and three rebounds in defeat.

Nikola Jankovic had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead Serbia to an opening win

Serbia and Bulgaria were also victorious on the opening day of the tournament and in less dramatic fashion.

Bulgaria led Germany by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter and finally clinched a comfortable 85-68 win.

The young star of Bulgaria, 19-year-old forward Aleksandar Vezenkov, poured in 24 points and winger Kris Minkov added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Forward Johannes Thiemann single-handedly scored more than one third of Germany's points, as he finished with 23 points and five rebounds in a losing effort.

Serbia meanwhile registered a relatively stress-free 74-57 win over Poland in the game the lifted the curtain on the 19th edition of the Turgut Atakol tournament.

Power forward Nikola Jankovic paced the winners with a double-double of 15 points and ten rebounds and guard Jovan Novak chipped in with 12 points and five boards.

The tournament, which concludes on Sunday, is a tribute to the memory of Turgut Atakol, a paramount figure in the history of Turkish basketball who passed away in 1988.

Atakol founded the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) in 1958 and served as its first president, until 1964.

In 2007, he became the first Turkish inductee in the FIBA Hall of Fame.