Neither Israel nor Slovenia found their top form in the final, but what the game lacked in quality it made up for in sheer excitement.

Israel had their chances to win and actually led the game for the best part of 20 minutes. But as has been Slovenia's trademark in this competition, they peaked just at the perfect time and they took their first lead of the second half with 33 seconds to go.

Point guard Jure Jure Mocnik  made probably the 3 most important plays of his life in the last minute. First he hit a three to tie the game at 58:58. He followed that with a drive that gave Slovenia the lead, 60:59, and capped that with 2 free throws to nail 7 points in 30 seconds which effectively won the game for his team.

"It's an amazing feeling. After we lost the finals in the Juniors we had to win this one. We played like a team the whole time. I fouled out but my teammates did a great great job," said Erazem Lorbek, who was elected tournament MVP.

Israel gave 110% in the game and can hold their heads high with the performance. They came back from a terrible start in which they trailed 16:4 after 5 minutes of play in the first quarter.

Just as it looked as though Slovenia would run away with the game, Israel found the kind of togetherness which has marked their run to the final.

Behind by 12 points after the opening period, they reeled off 13 straight to open the second. Lior Eliyahu continued his streak of form from the semis and 2 free throws from Igor Simin gave Israel their first lead, 20:21.

Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the first half, but it was Israel who nosed ahead, 30:32 at the break.

It was Israel who carried over the momentum from their second quarter comeback (they outscored Slovenia 10-24 in the period). Interestingly enough, it was not until midway through the third that Yotmar Halperin scored his first points of the game. His offensive talents were clearly not needed and he was happy to sit back and let his team-mates shoulder the load.

Halperin's first scoring contribution came on a steal and breakaway lay-up. He followed that with another steal and assist to Vladi Eyrmishin that capped an 8:0 run and Israel led by 12 points, 33:45.

Slovenia's comeback was steady rather than spectacular.

They chipped away at Israel's lead and by the end of the third trailed by 5, 45:50.

It was just when they were finding their feet that disaster struck for Slovenia and Erazem Lorbek fouled out. It wasn't clear who would step up for the Slovenians on offense, but Sasa Zagorac hit a jump shot and 2 free throws and the lead was just three, 55:58.

It was at that point that Jure Mocnik  weighed in. His play up until that point had been patchy at best, and he had made just 2/6 free throws in the 4th period. Still, when he found himself behind the 3-point line with acres of space (he even had time to take a dribble before shooting), he didn't hesitate. His shot found nothing but net and the game was tied, 58:58.

"I can't explain what I feel now. it's an incredible feeling," said Jure Mocnik  after the game.

"My coach told me just to keep playing like I play in Slovenia, and the shots I took went in."

Israel answered with a free throw but Jure Mocnik  replied with a drive and basket and Slovenia had the lead with 33 seconds to go.

Unfortunately for Israel, Raviv Limonad got a bit too enthusiastic on his foul attempt and he was called for an intentional on Jure Mocnik .

The Slovenian point guard made both, Slovenia retained possession and Israel was forced to foul once again. The intentional foul was without a doubt the key play of the game, and Slovenia held their nerve to hit 6/6 free throws to hold on for gold.

Our team has so many leaders - my brother Domen, Jure Jure Mocnik, they carried us to the win," added Lorbek

"We managed to stop Halperin but he's a big player. We are the best team in this championship."

Lorbek finished as the top scorer for Slovenia, although he was limited to 29 minutes before fouling out. He had 15 points while Jure Mocnik  also finished with 15.

Israel had a poor shooting night and made just 38% of their field goal attempts (22/57). Limonad top scored with 14 but Halperin could only manage 8 on 2/12 shooting. After 2 heroic performances with a badly sprained ankle, Halperin couldn't rescue his team for the third time in 3 games.

FOR 3. PLACE

This time around, however, there is no consolation for Greece.

After disappointing in their semi-final loss to Israel, the Greeks played once again well below their capabilities. Konstantinos Vasileiadis had probably his worst game of the tournament in the semis. Ironically enough, he was at his best against Lithuania, while his team-mates could not match his intensity.

Greece underlined their credentials as medal favourites here today at the Eural Trans Gas European Championship for U20 Men. The Greeks have been bridesmaids at their last 2 tournaments, picking up bronze medals at the 2002 European Championships for U18 Men and the 2003 World Championships for U19 Men.

The question is whether Greece can go one better in 2004 and based on their easy defeat of Latvia today in Brno, it is a distinct possibility.

After a sluggish opening first quarter, the Greeks stepped up a gear in the second. They opened up a 5-point lead which quickly reached double-digits in the third period.

The game quickly got out of reach for the Latvians and they they could not cut the score to double digits or even hope to get back into the contest.
Greek guard Kostas Vasileiadis is the competition's leading scorer and his was on form again today, notching up a game-high 25 points. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos also found his touch and added 24.

  Czech made it to the quarter-finals!
The final day of preliminary round action in the Eural Trans Gas European Championship for U20 Men brought little in the way of drama. With most of the quarter-final spots already taken, it was left to Spain and Czech Republic to fight for  a remaining berth. Both teams won, but it was home side Czech Republic who did enough to carry on their tournament dreams.

Spain 92  - Russia 69
A 9 o'clock start was not the kind of motivation that Russia needed going into their game with Spain. When you consider that for the Russians, the game was meaningless (first place in the group was a certainty regardless of the outcome), the final scoreline of 92:69 in Spain's favour was not a surprise. While Russia took it easy, Spain needed to win and win big if their quarter-final hopes were to be fulfilled.  They achieved their aim and their inside-outside pairing of Marc Gasol and Victor Sada were a big reason why.

Sada made his own piece of history, becoming the second player this summer to record a triple double (the first was Lithuania's Martynas Andriuskevicius at the European Championship for U18 Men). Sada's 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists paced Spain to victory. The Spanish guard stands just 189 cm, but has almost no equal under the boards in this competition. He is averaging double-digit rebounds after 4 games and currently stands no.2 in that category for the competition (10.6 rpg).

Gasol produced a good performance against Latvia (28 points and 12 rebounds) and continued his form against Russia. His 29 points and 11 rebounds are further indication that, although he may never be as good as his brother, at 210 cm he is another talented player in a country where big men come at a premium.

But for all the positives, Spain's win was in vain and the Czech Republic's defeat of Latvia cancelled their chances of making the top 8.

Czech Republic 85 -  Latvia 60

Home team Czech Republic had already produced one surprise of the tournament; their 69:65 victory over Spain. Against Latvia, the Czech Republic knew that only a win would guarantee a quarter-final spot and retain their status as the competition's “Cinderella team”. 

As it turned out, their 85:60 win not only furthered their stay in the tournament, but gave them 3rd place in Group B with Latvia falling to 4th. The Czech Republic undoubtedly benefited from the home support and 2,000 spectators turned up to cheer on their side. The fan presence, as well as the team's own determination, allowed them to jump out to an early lead, 26:18 after the first quarter. There was no doubt that, based on past performance, Latvia were the favourites to win. But any comeback, expected or not, simply did not materialise. Czech Republic were able to control the contest throughout, and their lead never looked in question. It was a team effort that won the day, but center David Steffel is proving to be one of the top big men in the tournament. He finished the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Lukas Kraus added 22 on 9/12 shooting.

Lithuania 73 -  Greece 67
The 3rd game of the final day in the preliminary round promised an intriguing match-up. Although both teams were already assured of a quarter-finals berth, there was the matter of 1st place in the group at stake, as well as, of course, pride. An interesting side-story was the battle between 2 of the tournament's leading scorers, Konstantinos Vasileiadis (GRE) and Linus Kleiza (LTU), both of whom would play a part in the game's eventual outcome.
Greece were undefeated in their opening 4 games, but in this last contest, produced their worst performance. It was Lithuania who were the most consistent team and having nursed a small lead for 35 minutes, pulled away in the final 5 for the victory, 67:73. The most interesting quarter was undoubtedly the second. In the opening period, Greece were lethargic and although they only trailed by 4 points at the buzzer, did not seem to have their heads in the game. 
That was the moment when Vasileiadis woke up.  The young Greek guard had a shot attempt snuffed under the basket by Lithuania's Darius Silinskas and that was his cue to drag his side back into contention. It began with successive three-pointers, which were followed with a bucket and foul. Vasileiadis' energy suddenly seemed to know no bounds and he sparked Greece back into contention. He would finish the quarter with 15 points and at halftime the game was tied, 37:37. While Vasileiadis was lighting up the scoreboard, Lithuania got a pretty good performance from their star forward, Linus Kleiza (16 points in the first half). But the difference in the game proved to be not the two stars, but their support. Vasileiadis' red hot play turned to stone cold in the second half and his team suffered. Greece managed to stay close in the 3rd, but a 6:0 Lithuanian run at the end of the period opened their lead to 60:55. In the fourth Greece still had trouble putting the ball in the basket, and while Lithuania also struggled, it seemed that whenever Greece scored they were able to answer.
Vasileiadis only managed 3 more points in the second half, but interestingly enough they proved to be pretty important. Lithuania need an 11-point win to secure top spot in the group and with 1 minute to go, led by 9. Vasileiadis' only three-pointer of the second half came with 50 seconds on the clock and interrupted Lithuania's momentum enough to ensure that the final margin was 6, and Greece finish as the group winner.

Serbia & Montenegro 76  - Slovenia 47
On paper, the contest between Serbia & Montenegro and Slovenia had the potential to be a good one. In reality it didn't happen. Serbia & Montenegro rode an awesome shooting performance from Ivan Koljevic (31 points on 12/14 field goals  -
 5/5 three-pointers), while Slovenia could barely get the ball near the basket, let alone through.
The Slovenians looked strong in the opening 10 minutes and took a 5-point lead into the second quarter (19:14). But each quarter saw a more futile offensive performance. They scored 12 points in the 2nd, 10 in the 3rd and just 6 in the 4th period to close the game with just 47 points to thier name. In the meantime Serbia & Montenegro had matters well under control by halftime and were not challenged in the remaining 20 minutes.

Ukraine 73 - Belarus 67
There was nothing for either of these teams at stake, other than pride. Both Belarus and Ukraine had no hopes of reaching the quarter-finals and each were looking for a sole preliminary round victory. It was Ukraine who got the win, 73:67, but it is scant consolation for what might have been. The Ukrainians came into the tournament on a major high thanks to victory in the Global Games in Dallas. The triumph included wins over Serbia & Montenegro and Croatia (in the final), while center Oleksiy Pecherov was named tournament MVP (31 points and 13 rebounds in the final). Nonetheless, Ukraine had a much tougher time in Brno and ultimately no chance to qualify for the top 8. It was a third quarter charge which gave Ukraine victory over Belarus. Just 3 points separated the teams at halftime (33:30), but Ukraine were able to increase those 3 points to 17 in the third. 5 Ukrainian players hit double figures in scoring and Sergiy Gorbenko led the way with 14.

Israel 84 - Croatia 104
The last game of the day had also the least meaning. Israel were sure of 2nd place in Group A, while Croatia's hopes of repeating their title (they won the 2002 European Championship for U18 Men) had long since dissipated.
The relative unimportance of the contest allowed both teams the luxury of playing little defense, a fact reflected in the final scoreline; 104: 84 to Croatia.
Croatia found their shooting touch and hit 33/55 field goals, including 13/22 (60%) of their three-pointers.

The Croatian offensive attack allowed them to take an early lead which they began to increase in the third period. Israel made a half-hearted attempt to press and get back into the game, but Croatia were able to keep the ball out  of any Israeli hands and consistently hit their shots. 3 Croatian players surpassed the 20-point mark and Petar Cosic led the way with 26. Israel, who will face Serbia & Montenegro in the quarter-final, were led by Yotmar Halperin with 22 points.

  Six teams in the top 8 already
Six of the eight spots in the quarter-finals are already decided one day before the end of the preliminary round, but still lots is about to be decided tomorrow. Ukraine and Belarus are already out in Group B, which means Greece, Serbia & Montenegro, Lithuania and Slovenia have qualified. But these top four teams will go head-to-head tomorrow, as Lithuania will try to conquer the first place in a match up against the unbeaten Greek team, and Slovenia will try to escape from the 4th place with a win over SRB. Almost every combination is possible and nothing is sure yet. In Group A we already know which teams will finish in the top two spots. Russia will finish first, while Israel got a hold of the second spot. Three teams -  Czech, Spain, Croatia - have won only a single game and will fight for survival tomorrow. Each one of them will meet one of the top 3 teams in the group. Latvia holds a record of two wins and two losses, but can still found itself out after tomorrow's games, so everything is open down there.
 
Russia 86  -  Croatia 54
In the first game of the fourth day Russia secured the first spot in Group A with a very impressive performance against Croatia. Russia didn't leave a chance for its opponent with a 32 point win, 86-54, stays perfect after 4 games, and will hold the first place even by losing tomorrow. Drago Pasalic with 21 points and Marko Banic with 13 and 7 turnovers couldn't keep their team in the game against the fast pace of the scoring abilities of the Russians. While Russia shot 11 of 22 from three point land, Croatian hit only twice out of 21 shot attempts. Russia scored in the second quarter the exact same amount of points, 25, that Croatia scored in the entire first half, and after 20 minutes held a 45-25 lead. The Russian domination continued in the second half and Egor Vyaltsev bombed the Croatian basket from every corner on the court on his way to 21 points, and a 32 margin at the final buzzer.

Serbia & Montenegro 76  -  Belarus 62
Belarus is still searching for its first win of the championship after 4 games, but today they gave a worthy fight for the Serbian team before surrendering. Ivan Koljevic scored 11 points in the first half to lead his team, Serbia & Montenegro, to a 40-33 lead after one half. Vladzimir Verameyenka and Dzmitry Paliashchuk led Belarus in storming minutes in the third quarter managed to stop the Serbian attack and after 27 minutes Serbia's lead was minimized to 2, 48-46. In that point Kosta Perovic, who scored 13 points, and Milos Markovic, joined Koljevic and made sure that SRB will enter the last quarter leading by 8, 56-48. After missing the chance to take the lead into its hands, Belarus was unable to make one more effort and comeback again to the game. SRB won by 14 points and got its third win of the games.

Latvia 79  -  Spain 72
With one win for each team both Latvia and Spain wanted to avoid going into the last day of the competition with the same winning record. After four quarters it was Latvia who achieved the goal, and was presented with the second win in the championship. Spain is on the edge of elimination after a 79-72 loss. Latvia took off only in the second quarter after a 15-14 lead at the end of the first. An unstoppable rain of threepoint shots already in the first half (10/20) left Spain behind by 12 points by half time, 40-28. Kaspars Berzins and Rinalds Sirsnins finished the first half with a combined record of 7 out of 10 from behind the arc, and neither of them scored inside the arc. Spain never really made it back to the game. Marc Gasol, despite 28 points and 12 rebounds, couldn't rescue his team, and with a little over 3 minutes to go Latvia held a 69-57 lead. Spain made one last effort and used a series of turnovers by Latvia to force a 0-9 run that cut the margin to no more than 3 points, 69-66 with 1:20 minutes to play in the game. Arturs Stalbergs of Latvia took a bad shot from 3 in the next possession but the ball hit the backboard and went in, and broke the comeback spirit of Spain. Sirsnins and Gatis Jahovics completed the win from the free throw line and their dream of a quarter-finals appearance is slowly becoming reality.

Israel 78  -  Czech 68
The Israeli team earned its third win in the championship and made sure no team will be able to take the second place in Group A from its hands. Israel's last game tomorrow against Croatia won't make any difference as the Israelis will finish second in any case and will face the team that will finish third in Group B. The hosting team gave another worthy effort and never raised its hands, but didn't have what it takes to gain a second win in the championship. This time the locals lost 78-68 to Israel.The Czech team held a 9-10 lead during the first quarter, but Israel replied with a 6-0 run and finished the first quarter leading by 5, 17-12. The big push by Israel came during the third quarter when it climbed to a 17 point lead, 51-34, and all seemed done and set for the quarter-finals qualification celebrations, but David Steffel, who had 25 points tonight, had different plans and along with his teammates Czech made a 0-13 run, that made it a new game, but once again Israel managed to stay cool and with Raviv Limonade, who scored 27 points today, and Yotam Halperin with a key three-pointer in the closing minutes, Israel safely cruised for a 10 point win.

Greece 91  -  Ukraine 82
The team from Greece remains the only team in Group B without a loss, but will have to beat Lithuanian in the last day to secure the first spot. Greece has already qualified to the elite 8 while Ukraine lost its chance to get a surprising quarter-finals ticket, but still nevertheless the team that was having control over the game most of the time seemed to be Ukraine. Greece managed to win 91-82 after another scoring performance by Kosta Vasileiadis who nailed 32 points today. The Ukrainians were strong in the game during the first half, and closed the first 2 quarters with a 42-43 lead. Vasileiadis added 13 points in the second half to reach his 32, but it was Panagiotis Vasilopoulos who stepped up with 17 points and 3 hits from behind the arc in the second half to help Greece take control over the game, and stay with a perfect record also after 4 games.

  Day 3
Slovenia 84  -  Belarus 55
Belarus will keep looking for its first win of the tournament after tomorrow's rest day. Slovenia was far too much for them to handle, and easily won by 29 points, 84-55.
Four Slovenian players scored in double-digits, led by 17 points from Miha Fon, but the most interesting stats line was produced by Matej Venta who scored only 6 points but grabbed 8 rebounds and stole 7 balls.
Vladzimir Verameyenka did his best for the Belarus team with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but couldn't match up for too long against the sheer size of the Slovenian team in the paint.
Slovenia took a 23-10 lead after 10 minutes, but at half time we had a new game after Belarus finished strong to be down by only 6, 36-30. Slovenia didn't waste too much time and already in the third quarter made sure to seal the deal and won the second half 48-25.

Russia 78 -  Latvia 73
In less than 24 hours Russia once again came back from behind to win a close game that for 35 minutes was in the hands of its opponent. Yesterday it was Israel, and today Latvia saw a win slip out of its hands in the last minutes.
Russia stays perfect after 3 games with a 78-73 win.
Latvia took a 31-44 lead deep in the second quarter after another easy two of Bambis in the paint, but Russia came back with a 11-2 run to cut the lead to 4, 42-46.
Latvia spoke the last word and finished the first half up by 6.
The same story was repeated in the third quarter. Latvia climbed to a double-digit lead, 49-61 with a little more than 3 minutes to go, but Russia replied with a 12-4 run and opened the last quarter down by 4, 61-65.
Half way through the last quarter Russia came even closer, to only 64-65, but after Jahovics drilled a big three and stole the ball, it seemed like this game was going in Latvia's direction.
Not for long.
Up until the end of the game Latvia was able to add only 5 more points, while Russia tied with a big bucket from Levter. A big follow-up dunk by the same player sent out a clear message.

Lithuania 93  -  Ukraine 78
After two big losses the Ukraine finally gave a worthy fight, but was still unable to win its first game in the championship. Lithuania made its deciding run in a 30-16 fourth quarter, and earned its second win of the championship, 93-78.
The first half was a one man show in each team. Linas Kleiza of Lithuania scored 22 points already in the first half, exactly 50% of the total amount Lithuania scored until then.
On the other side Oleksiy Pecherov nailed 18 points of his own, and that was enough to put his team on top after 20 minutes, 44-48, with the same Pecherov nailing a big 3 pointer with the buzzer.
Kleiza continued to dominate in the second half and added 14 more points, for a total amount of 36 points in 35 minutes (Championship high up until now), while Pecherov added only 5 more points in the 2nd half, and watched his team go down by 15 with the final buzzer.

Greece 72 - Serbia & Montenegro 59
A first loss in the championship came for Serbia & Montenegro today in their third game. An amazing first half from Kosta Vasileiadis shocked the Serbs and opened a margin that was too big for Serbia & Montenegro to overcome.
The talented shooter for the Greeks scored 23 points in the first half hitting 8/11 from the field and helped his team to win by 13, 72-59, but the margin was much bigger in the closing minutes.
Vasileiadis amazed the Serbs with unstoppable bombs from everywhere on court, as Greece took a 23-11 lead after 10 minutes, and kept the margin on 12 by half time, 44-32.
Serbia was able to stop Vasileiadis' shooting streak in the second half, and he added only 6 more points, but the Serbs couldn't find a way to break through the Greek defense, and the gap just kept on growing, crossing the 20 point barrier early in the fourth.
Greece maintained its perfect record and is standing on top of Group B at the end of the first three days, as the only team without a loss.

Israel 86  -  Spain 77
Israel recovered from the upset against Russia in the second day with a 9 point win over Spain, which still missed Jan Martin.
Yotam Halperin of Israel had an unforgettable night from the free throw line making all of his 17 foul shot attempts that led Israel to a big 86-77 win.
Spain registered already its second lost and has to win the last 2 games to secure its spot in the quarter-finals.
After 10 minutes in the game Israel and Spain were even at 22-22, but it was Spain who took a 5 point lead, 28-33, late in the second quarter.
Yotam Halperin nailed 5 free throws in a row, after he was fouled for a 3 point shot and an additional technical foul against Spain. Still Spain managed to finish the first half leading 40-42.
Israel trailed in the first part of the third quarter, but made a big 12-0 run in the closing 5:44 minutes of the third to take a 61-52 lead.
Spain found its way back in the game and came as close as 6 points, 73-67, but with the accurate foul shots by Halperin, Israel felt safe and cruised to a 9 point win.

Croatia 82 - Czech Republic 64
Finally after 3 games Croatia was able to come off the court with happy thoughts. After two losses Croatia faced the home team, which had some hopes to keep the surprise routine alive for one more game.
Drago Pasalic had a big game with 32 points and 16 boards that were enough for a first Croatian win. Marko Banic added a double-double of his own of 19 points and 10 rebounds, while David Steffel of the Czech team answered with 22 points and 13 boards.
Croatia decided the game already after the first half when it took a 42-27 lead.
The Czech fans continued to push their team in the second half, but it took more than that to surrender Croatia, which hit 8 three-pointers against only 2 from the Czechs.

  Day 2
Latvia 76 -  Croatia 69
Croatia suffered its second loss in the Championship already after the second day and once again after 40 minutes was down by 7 points.
This time it was Latvia's turn to upset the Junior European Champion of this generation with a 76-69 win.
It seemed like Croatia was going to have an easy game, with a solid 13-21 lead after 10 minutes, but Kaspars Berzins and Gatis Jahovics, who finished with 18 points each, carried their team through a great second quarter and after one half Latvia had a 38-31 lead.
The Latvian celebration went on in the second half and despite a very bad day from 3 point land (2/11 against 10/27 from Croatia), they even increased the margin as a surprising hit from 3 by Barzins, with the help of the backboard, closed the third quarter with Latvia leading 63-48.
Croatia laid its future in the hands of the three-point-magician but could only narrow the gap to 7 by the end of the game.

Czech Republic 69 - Spain 65
The local Czech team handed out the biggest upset of the U20 championship already in the second day of the competition.
Spain played without Jan Martin, who was injured in the first game, but still didn't expect such a performance by the home team.
It was only the 2nd win ever for Czech Republic in the U20 Europena Championship history. An amazing finish by the Czech team, led by David Marek who scored 8 points in the last 2:11 minutes, shocked Spain and gave the locals a 69-65 win.
After giving a good fight to Russia in the first day, and beating Spain on the second, nobody will underestimate the Czech team any more. It started well already from the first minutes as the Czechs took a 14-6 advantage with 2:40 to play in the first quarter after a three-pointer of Marek - one out of 5 he had in the entire game.
One minute into the 2nd quarter and the Czechs already had a double-digit lead, 22-12, but Spain recovered fast and by half time held a 29-30 lead after Victor Sada sank 2 from the line with 4 seconds to go before the buzzer.
Spain opened the second half with 6 points in a row, and it seemed like the end of the road for the host team, but after 8 minutes the margin was narrowed down to only 2, 47-49, and the Czechs were back in business.
Ctirad Klimanek nailed a big one with 8 minutes to play to give his team a big 1 point lead, 52-51, and the fans were rocking the house.
Spain took the lead back but with 2:46 to play Tomas Toth, who entered the game only several minutes before and had a big finish of his own, tied the game at 59-59.
A little over 30 seconds passed and Marek hit a downtown bomb in crunch time to give his team a 3 point lead, 62-59.
Spain replied with a small 0-5 run, but it was enough to take the lead back. Not for long. Marek drilled another from the other side and left Spain in shock and down by 1, 65-64 with a little over a minute to play.
Spain was able to add only one more point until the end and nothing was more deserved than to give Toth and Marek share the last 4 points of their team that secured the great win.

Serbia & Montenegro 80 - Lithuania 72
The team from Serbia & Montenegro stays perfect after the second day of the competition and after facing one of the its toughest opponents in Group B - Lithuania.
It was a close battle for 40 minutes, but Serbia had more energy to finish it up with an 80-72 win.
Paulius Jankunas had a huge game for Lithuania with a 14 point-16 rebound double-double but Serbia displayed the big Kosta Perovic with 18 points and point-guard Ivan Koljevic with 20.
Serbia finished the first quarter up by 7, 26-19, after a big 3 point hit by Koljevic with the buzzer.
Lithuania made it back to the game in the third quarter when Linas Klieza stormed the court and after finishing a penetration with a big dunk in the first half, he added more points and rebounds in the third, as Lithuania held its opponent on 10 points only in the quarter, and took a 51-53 lead after 30 minutes of play.
The teams went neck-to-neck deep into the fourth but the Serbs had a better momentum. Bojan Stajic nailed a big 3 pointer that set the gap on 6, 72-66, with a little less than 2 minutes to go.
Kankunas hit only one from the line and on the other side Perovic showed him how to make it work by keeping his free-throw record clean.
Klieza hit his second three-pointer with 47 seconds to go to make it a 4 point game again, 74-70, but Serbia & Montenegro broke the full court pressure and Perovic finished with a big dunk that was worth a big win for his team.

Slovenia 100 - Ukraine 82
The first game of the second day in the championship introduced us to the first team to score 100 points - Slovenia, which got its first win against the Ukraine, 100-82. The Ukrainians will have to stay patient for at least one more day before celebrating their first win.
The game was decided already after one quarter, when Slovenia didn't show any remorse and overran their opponents 38-12 after 10 minutes. Erazem Lorbek had an easy game with 25 points, and his brother Domen added 14 points and 6 assists.
Ukraine, which lost 27-15 in rebounds, was led by Dmytro Dyatlovskyy who scored 19 points including 5 hits from downtown.

Greece 81 - Belarus 60
Don't be fooled by the final score. After the big loss in the first day Belarus gave a worthy fight against Greece, but couldn't survive for more than 3 quarters and lost 81-60.
The Greeks couldn't find an answer to Vladzimir Verameyenka who finished with a big double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds and kept his team in the game for a long time. Belarus finished the first quarter up by one, 19-20, and didn't stay far behind by half time, when Greece took the lead, but not for more than 2 points, 36-34.
Belarus had total control in the rebounds, but when Greece didn't miss, it wasn't an effective advantage anymore. Panagiotis Vasilopoulos shinned in Greece, that took a 47-36 lead after 26 minutes.
Belarus finally broke the spell on the Greek basket and narrowed the gap to 5, 54-49, late in the third, but that wasn't enough to survive the Greek attack in the last quarter. Kosta Vaileiadis drilled 17 points and added 6 steals on the way to a difficult 21 point win.

Russia 90 - Israel 83
Second win in two games for Russia, who managed to steal the win from the hands of the Israeli team with a 33-10 run in the last minutes on the way to a 90-83 win, after Israel already held a 16 point lead in the last quarter.
Israel had the upper hand for almost 35 minutes, but the first half was more even. Israel had a 13-18 lead after the first quarter, but Russia opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run that later put them on top by 6, 29-23.
Igor Simin of Israel with a big three-pointer sealed a great Israeli finish for the half with a 4-15 run and a 33-38 lead. Yotam Halperin, who scored 24 points already in the first three quarters, led Israel to its biggest advantage of the game, 57-73, with 7:44 to play, but from that point on there was only one team on the court.
Halperin was stopped on only one point in the last quarter, Russia took the lead back in its hands with a 24-7 run, and increased the margin to 7 in the last minute.

  Greece and Spain open with big wins

Spain, Russia and Israel had smiles on their faces at the end of the first day in Group A of the U20 European Championship. Spain beat Croatia in the last match of the day, Israel beat Latvia in the most close game while Russia had to sweat a little before submitting the local team from Czech. The smiling faces on Group B were Lithuania, Serbia & Montenegro and Greece after the first two had a very east start against the Ukraine and and Belarus while Greece opened with a win over Slovenia.

Lithuania 81 -  Belarus 47
The first game of the championship was one-sided and decided very fast in favor of Lithuania 81-47. Lithuania didn't leave any chances for Belrus from the first minute, and took a 22-6 lead after one quarter. The complete dominance of the Lithuanians didn't stop there, and as the minutes went by Linas Kleiza and his team continued to increase the gap. The Lithuanian coach shared the minutes equally between almost all his players , and only two of them played more than 20 minutes. After 4 quarters we had the first winner -  Lithuania by 34 points.

Israel 73 - Latvia 68
The first match in Group B was the exact opposite to the prior one. Israel struggled to get its first win in the tournament, but down the stretch made less mistakes and was awarded with a 5 point win, 73-68. Both teams were going neck to neck for 40 minutes, and Israel finished the first half up by 1, 37-36 as Raviv Limonad had already 12 points. Israel managed to stop Gatis Jahovics, that after scoring 11 in the first half added only 2 in the second, but Kaspars Berzins stepped up and carried his team to a close finish with the Israeli side. After a 68-63 lead of Israel, Latvia came back to trail by one two. An offensive rebound of Anton Kazarnovski of Israel with 24 seconds to go and his team up by 2 saved the day for the blue-and-whites. Rekis Edgars missed a 3 point shot 5 seconds to go that could have tied the game, and Raviv Limonad, the top scorer of the game with 19 points, sealed the deal from the line.

Serbia & Montenegro 90 - Ukraine 62
The second game in Group B was one-sided as well. After Lithuania beat Belarus by 34 points, we witnessed Serbia & Montenegro keep Ukraine 28 points behind in another game that was going in one direction from the first minute. SRB took a 20-4 lead early in the game, and finished the first quarter leading 23-7. In the third quarter SRB decided it was time to close the window on this game, and once again won the 10 minutes period by a double-margin with Ukraine once again stuck on a single digit in the scoring column with only 9. Kosta Perovic and Ivan Koljevic led the way for Serbia & Montenegro in the easy opener.

Greece 91 - Slovenia 84
Already in its first big game of the tournament Greece registered a big win over Slovenia after a big run in the fourth quarter. It was a shoot out contest between two shooting guards - Kosta Vasileiadis of Greece and Domen Lorbek of Slovenia. It finished 26-25 for the Greek side, and a 7 point win, 91-84, for the same side. It was a very offensive game but with very aggressive defenses. Slovenia was the one that had the upper hand for the majority of the first 30 minutes, but Greece always stayed close behind. Domen Lorbek hit three-pointers one after the other but Greece, with 5 players in double-digits, didn't allow to Slovenia to take off. Then came the fourth quarter and it was time for the Greek squad to get on the scoring road. Greece nearly didn't miss a shot in the paint and with Vasileiadis bombing from downtown there wasn't much to do for the Slovenia team, that struggled on the other side for every point. Slovenia lost the last quarter 25-12, and will try to find its first win in the second game of the tournament.

Russia 89 - Czech 72
Russia got its first win of the games against the home team that gave an honored performance against one of the most talented teams here. It seemed like a very easy trip for Russia in the first 25 minutes, but the Czech team managed to cut it down to 4 in the last quarter before losing by 17. Viktor Keirou spinned his defenders and led Russia to a 36-31 lead after one half and during the third quarter the margin just kept growing. David Steffel was the one to lead Czech back to the game. the skilled forward, who was the first player to register a double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) in the games, slowly carried his team and with a big push from the local fans, we had a 4 point game, 65-61, with 7 minutes to go. The Czechs were going strong on the offensive rebound and doing their best to stay in the game, but Russia replied with a 15-2 hitting again and again deadly three-pointers that didn't leave a chance for the locals.

Spain 82 -  Croatia 75
The big feud of Group B closed the first day of the championship. Only 6 players scored for Spain but two of them -  Jose Guzman and Marc Gasol -  crossed the 20 points barrier and led their team to a big 82-75 win over Croatia, that was behind for most of the game. Spain took full control over the game already in the first minutes, and after the first 10 minutes had a 30-20 lead. Croatia finally woke up in the second quarter but was able to tie the game only in the third after a big dunk by Nikola Garma. The two teams entered the last quarter tied at 58-58, but the one who had more air to produce the last effort was Spain, who once again dominated the boards, with point-guard Victor Sada grabbing 12 of them and adding 17 points, on the way to a big Spanish win.