Kücük’s late push key for Turkey - Top 5 performances on Day 2

ROSARIO/SANTA FE (FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018) - Ömer Kücük had a great fourth quarter in helping Turkey to a big win over Australia to pull even at 1-1 in Group A while Montenegro’s Jovan Kljajic, Jermaine Miranda of Puerto Rico, Serbian Dorde Pazin and Matej Rudan of Croatia all guided their respective country’s to victories as well as the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018 action heats up.

Find out in more detail what happened with our recap of the top five performances on Day 2, in no particular order:

1) Jovan Kljajic - Montenegro

Kljajic poured in 22 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and one block in Montenegro’s 80-56 victory over New Zealand in Group C - the country’s first-ever win in the competition’s history. The Montenegro captain set the tone from the very start with two three-pointers and two more layups in the first quarter as the debutants pulled ahead 27-11 and never looked back in moving to 1-1.

2) Ömer Kücük - Turkey

Atakan Erdek scored nine points in helping Turkey tie the game at 69-69 after trailing by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, but it was Kücuk who took over the final seven minutes with all 13 points of his points, five rebounds, including two offensive boards, one assist and the game-saving steal on Australia star Tamuri Wigness with 6 seconds left and Turkey up 80-79. Kücük ended up collecting 13 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench in an 81-79 win to move Turkey to 1-1 in Group A.

3) Jermaine Miranda - Puerto Rico

Miranda had a great all-around game with 29 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block while hitting 58 percent from the field in Puerto Rico’s 84-69 win over Dominican Republic for a 2-0 record in Group A. While the Dominicans were trying to bottle up Puerto Rican leader Andre Curbelo, Miranda made them pay with 11 points in the first quarter and he had 15 at halftime as Puerto Rico led 43-26 en route to a comfortable win.

4) Dorde Pazin - Serbia

A day after hitting seven three-pointers and scoring 29 points against Mali, Pazin knocked down four three-pointers and tallied a team-high 18 points to go with three rebounds, three assists and one steal in Serbia’s 73-61 victory over China for a 2-0 record in Group B. He hit two three-pointers in the first quarter, and then as Serbia led by just one point with 1:30 minutes left in the third quarter Pazin knocked down back-to-back three-pointers for a seven-point advantage after three quarters. That allowed Serbia to regain controlled of the game.

5) Matej Rudan - Croatia

Rudan was outstanding throughout the game in Croatia’s 74-55 win over Argentina with 24 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. After collecting 16 points, four rebounds and three assists in Croatia’s opening win, Rudan was a steadying force on the glass and outside - hitting 5-of-10 three-pointers - while also making 7-of-8 free throws. Croatia took control in the second half, giving up just 23 points in the final two quarters in which Rudan had 12 points and seven rebounds for a 2-0 record in Group D

FIBA