We are ready for the battle of big boys: Garuba and Sengun set up a huge matchup in the Final

VOLOS (Greece) - Turkey defeated Slovenia, while Spain outlasted Greece, as both Semi-Finals were dominated by guys who have the same job descriptions - score, rebound, protect the paint, win.

Alperen Sengun suffered an injury in the training camp before FIBA U18 European Championship 2019, which meant he did not arrive in Volos 100 percent ready. But the Semi-Finals proved that he can be extremely effective even in limited minutes.

Sengun played 19 minutes, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, with 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and a steal also to his name. But the most important number of Sengun's activity on the floor is the +16 in the +/- department, especially when you consider that Turkey won by 8 points (72-64).

On the other end of the scale is Usman Garuba. The Spanish double-double machine played all but 53 seconds to help his team collect a 70-54 win over Greece, finishing with 18 points, 19 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks, giving him efficiency of 38, easily the highest efficiency of the Semi-Finals.

This will be the second consecutive summer that Garuba and Sengun are up against each other in the late stages of a FIBA event. Last August, they met in the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 European Championship in Novi Sad, with the Spaniard claiming the win, both in their own duel with 14 points and 18 rebounds, compared to Sengun's 12 points and 5 rebounds, and in the overall game, as Spain won the game 67-57.

FIBA