ISTANBUL (Türkiye) - Türkiye's dynamic duo of Omer Kutluay and Darius Karutasu brought the hosts back from the dead and gave fans a thriller for the ages in rallying from 25 points down in for 112-100 double-overtime win over New Zealand to start the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2026.
Kutluay scored 39 points with 7 rebounds and 9 assists while Karutasu totalled 37 points with 6 three-pointers and 11 rebounds in the improbable game.
"I'm proud of the team. We didn't say the game was over. We focused and came back and it was a great win," said Kutluay.
The point guard had high praise for his partner in crime Karutasu, saying: "He's my man. We both scored about 40. We were unstoppable. We're coming for the championship."
The Basketball Development Center was eerily quiet late in the third quarter as their heroes trailed by 25 points - 56-31 at the 6 minute mark. A mini run at the end of the period gave the home fans hope as the deficit was only 15 points before going into the final frame down 17 points.
Karutasu got hot with three three-pointers as Türkiye hit one triple after the next and even pulled ahead 70-69 as the BDC was like a madhouse.
"When it was 10 point difference the crowd was crazy. They were helping us on defense and offense. It pushed us a lot," said Kutluay.
New Zealand appeared to have the game sealed 84-81 with 27 seconds to play. But Demir Ozturk put back an offensive rebound with 3 seconds left and converted the bonus free throw to send the game to overtime.
While Kutluay and Karutasu were doing their thing, it was Jayden Cecil putting on a show at the other end as he poured in 42 points.
Neither side could pull away and New Zealand's Noah Duncan calmly knocked down two free throws with 18 seconds left with the crowd going nuts to send it to a second overtime.
The combo of Kutluay and Karutasu were too much and New Zealand succumbed to the loss. And Türkiye's dynamic duo sent the Turkish fans home happy.
FIBA