Final
Serbia U20 - Lithuania U20 96:89 Serbian U20 National Team scored an emphatic win over Lithuania
yesterday to earn the European Championship title for the third straight
year.
Milan Macvan
(205-F/C-89) stepped up for Serbia as they held off Lithuania in a
thrilling Final in Riga.
Milan Macvan
finished the game with 31 points and Serbia ran away with a narrow win
at the end.
Miroslav Raduljica
(212-C-88, agency:
CAA Sports) added
14 points and 13 boards for the winners. He was trumped the MVP of the
tournament after the clash. The game lived up to the highest
expectations. The teams traded baskets throughout the opening stanza.
The frame saw 12 lead changes before Petar Despotovic made it 29:27 for
Serbia at the end. Marjanovic and
Marko Keselj
(206-F-88, agency:
Beo Basket)
stretched the margin to 6 points midway through the second stanza. Then
Milan Macvan and
Jeremic hit a bunch of free throws to open a double-digit lead for
Serbian team. Serbia finished the first half strongly with
Milan Macvan
completing his 20-point haul and the Balkan side was in charge 53:42 at
halftime. Lithuania however stayed at a striking distance throughout the
third quarter and headed into the final term trailing by just 7 points.
Lithuania went on a 13:7 rally in the starting minutes of the fourth
period to cut the deficit to a single point.
Miroslav Raduljica
came up big with straight baskets for Serbia to give them some breathing
room.
Marko Keselj
and Petar Despotovic later extended the margin to 10 points with 39
seconds left. Sarunas Vasiliauskas dropped buzzer beating trey but it
was just too late for Lithuania as they lost the battle.
Marko Keselj
scored 20 points for the winners.
Donatas Motiejunas
(214-C-90) and
Martynas Gecevicius
(194-G-88) knocked down 16 points apiece for Lithuania. Sarunas
Vasiliauskas added 13 points in a loss.
3rd-4th spots
Spain U20 - Turkey U20 91:72
Spain edged Turkey in the consolation final of the U20 European
Championship in Riga.
Pere Tomas
(201-F-89) scored 20 points to propel Spaniards past their Turkish
opponents. It was the third Bronze medals success for Spain in the
history of the competition. The game turned into a relatively easy
voyage for Spaniards. They took over right from the start and never
allowed Turkey to threaten the lead. Lopez capped the first frame with
two three-pointers to give Spain a 21:15 lead.
Sergio De La Fuente
(198-C-89) scored 11 points in the second period and Spain cleared off
to a 45:32 advantage at halftime.
Pere Tomas nailed
three treys in the third stanza and Spain piled up a 20-point advantage
before the fourth quarter. Spanish side kept their opponents at bay
throughout the fourth stanza and secured the winning outcome at the end.
Sergio De La Fuente
and
Victor Claver
(204-F/C-88) netted 18 points apiece for the winners. Pablo Aguilar had
9 points and 7 boards for Spain.
Baris Hersek
(204-F/C-88) replied with 16 points for Turkey.
Azizcan Ozdemir
(201-F-88) notched 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in defeat. Spain
converted 50% from the field and 83% from free throw line.
5th-6th spots
Montenegro U20 - Italy U20 79:63
Montenegrin U20 National team secured the fifth-spot finish in the first
European Championship for the team.
Vladimir Dasic
(209-F-88, agency:
Beo Basket) once
again confirmed his topscorer status as he notched 26 points and 9
rebounds and Montenegro held off Italy in their final outing in Riga
yesterday.
Pietro Aradori
(192-G-88) was active in the first period to give Italy an 11:6 lead.
However
Vladimir Dasic
completed his first-frame 14-point tally and Montenegro surged in front
18:16. Montenegro capped the first half with a 14:4 rally to accumulate
a 47:29 advantage at halftime. Back-to-back triples from
Milos Durisic
(194-G-88) and Vranjes allowed Montenegro to enjoy a 22-point lead
midway through the third stanza. The Balkan team breezed to the victory
in the fourth quarter and celebrated the fifth place at the end. Vranjes
knocked down 17 points for Montenegro.
Milos Durisic
added 11 points for the winners.
Pietro Aradori
topscored with 19 points for Italy.
Giancarlo Ferrero
(194-G-88, agency:
Players Group)
had 9 points in a losing case. The teams were equally matched on the
boards. Montenegro converted solid 49% from the field, while limiting
their opponents to just 42% accuracy. Italy also committed 24 turnovers
in the loss.
7th-8th spots
France U20 - Ukraine U20 96:78 French U20 National Team wrapped up their European Chmapionship
campaign with an impressive win over Ukraine.
Abdoulaye MBaye
(189-G-88) exploded with 45 points and led France to an overwhelming
96:78 victory. Thus France occupied the 7th overall spot at the
tournament. Ukraine finished the championship with 2-5 record and
grabbed the 8th spot in the final ladder. The teams rolled closely for
three quarters before
Abdoulaye MBaye
put on a one-man show in the fourth term to leave Ukraine far behind.
France got to a slightly better start to the game and a 6:0 run put them
up by 10 late in the opening stanza. Oleksandr Sizov and Andriy Novikov
cut the deficit and France led by 8 points at the first intermission. A
13:5 surge from Ukraine at the start of the second stanza tied it all at
30. Ukraine soon jumped in front and maintained a narrow advantage for
some time before French players crowned the half with 7 unanswered
points to regain the lead at 44:39. The situation did not change
radically in the third frame as France kept it in front and headed into
the final period leading by 8 points. Sergiy Popov knocked down 10
points in the first half of the final stanza and Ukraine got as close as
3 points from their opponents. However
Abdoulaye MBaye
stepped up for France at the moment. He drilled 6 triples in the stretch
of 4 minutes to ignite a 22:8 rally from France and literally brought
victory to Les Bleus.
Kim Tillie
(206-F-88) added 17 points and 9 boards for France.
Antoine Diot
(191-G-89) contributed 16 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds for the
winning side.
Sergiy Gladyr
(196-G/F-89) had 15 points for Ukraine.
Vadym Norenko
(204-F-88) dropped 14 points in the loss.
9th-10th spots
Russia U20 - Israel U20 83:67
Russian U20 National Team finished the European Championship in Riga
with victory. They defeated Israel to earn the 9th spot in the final
ladder.
Alexey Shved
(196-G-88) knocked down 23 points and issued 6 assists to pace Russia.
Anton Shoutvin
(205-C/F-89) topscored for Israel with 13 points. Russia surged ahead
early in the game and maintained the advantage throughout the action.
Alexey Shved
nailed 6 points in a 13:4 run from Russia as they built a 20:11 lead
midway through the first stanza. The first term ended with a 24:17
Russian advantage and they stretched the margin to 14 points early in
the second quarter. Asante Asare and Oded Brandwein teamed up for 8
straight points to trim the deficit to 3 points with 2 minutes to go in
the half. However Russia answered with an 11:0 rally to establish a
44:30 advantage at the interval.
Artem Yakovenko
(206-G/F-88) and
Ilya Syrovatko
(193-G-88) ensured the distance would grow to 22 points in the third
quarter. Israel never rebounded and suffered a stunning loss at the end.
Ilya Syrovatko
knocked down 22 points and pulled down 7 boards for Russia.
Artem Yakovenko
chipped in 15 points for the winners.
Gal Mekel
(195-G-88) came up with 12 points for Israel in defeat.
11th-12th spots
Latvia U20 - Croatia U20 94:70 Latvia finished the home U20 European Championship on a
positive note. They beat Croatia to wrap up their campaign at the 11th
spot.
Janis Strelnieks
(185-G-89) stepped up for the hosts with 20 points and 9 assists. Latvia
used a storming first quarter to pile up a decisive lead in the game.
Janis Strelnieks
nailed 10 points in the starting frame and Latvia built a 28:13
advantage. Croatia cut the deficit to 4 points midway through the second
term
Kristaps Kanbergs
(190-G-88) and Rihards Kuksiks closed the first half with back-to-back
triples and Latvia went to the locker room leading by 12. Rihards
Kuksiks,
Kristaps Kanbergs
and Janis Kaufmanis all connected from downtown to give the hosts a
21-point advantage early in the third stanza. Latvia maintained the
distance well and entered the fourth term ahead by 22 points. Croatia
failed to reignite the intrigue in the game and had to surrender at the
end.
Kristaps Kanbergs
knocked down 19 points for Latvia.
Rolands Freimanis
(208-F/C-88) added 17 points and 8 rebounds for the winning side.
Filip Kruslin
(198-G-89) secured 21 points for Croatia.
Marino Sarlija
(204-F/C-89) contributed 16 points in a losing effort. Latvia enjoyed a
34:29 advantage on the boards and converted solid 50% from the field.
U20 Germany - U20 Belgium
110-102
Two teams which demonstrated the best performance on U20 European
Championship division B in Targu Mures totally deserved met each other
in the final. It was for sure the most exciting game of the entire
tournament. Germany made
fantastic result grabbing the Gold after two over times. On the other
side Belgians also registered great success winning the Silver medal and
at the same time, together with Germany, earned promotion to division A
for the next European Championship.
Belgium showed much better
performance at the early beginning taking 6-point lead after 5 minutes.
They succeeded to keep it until the center of the second period when
Germany made 11-5 run tying the score
on 41-41 before the half time. Situation totally changed after the
breather as
Germany was the team which created
advantage of 5 points mostly owing to
Elias Harris (200-F-89).
Munda Hockins (188-G-88) and
Thomas Dreesen (200-F-88, agency:
Court Side) immediately answered taking care for 11-4 run grabbing
two-points lead for their team before the last frame. At the end of
regular time
Germany had a chance to take this one
but
Munda Hockinsmade two free throws for 81-81 with 12 second
remaining. At the very end of the first over time
Kevin Schaffartzik (186-G
Division B. Semifinals - Aug. 10, 2008
Semifinals
U20 Germany - U20 Estonia 77-65 Germany is the
first finalist of U20 European Championship division B in Targu Mures.
The Germans were too strong for Estonia, which will continue
championship trying to reach the Bronze medal. What is maybe the most
important for the Germans, except of this final, is a fact that they are
automatically promoted to Division A for the next European Championship.
Germany had much better rebounding
day than its rivals registering 14 + 24 boards. On the other hand
Estonia had just 2 + 25. Germans
demonstrated slightly better performance in the opening quarter. At the
one point of it they touched plus 8 but
Sten Sokk (181-G-89) and
Ivar Tulit (202-F-88) created 6-0 run
for their team setting the score on 19-17 after first ten minutes. Germany entered
strongly into the next one. After dunk by
Robin Benzing (208-F-89, college:
Michigan), they grabbed 13 points lead
with 1:27 remaining in the first half. At the last Estonia's
possession
Tanel Kurbas (195-F-88) made a lay up
for 39-28. Nothing has changed after the half time. It seemed that Germany played
as much as they needed for the final.
Karsten Tadda (189-G-88) and his
teammates resolved question about the winner at the beginning of the
last frame making 14-3 run for 71-49. After that moment it was clear
that the firts finalist of U20 European Championship division B is
already known.
Semifinals
Serbia U20 - Turkey U20 90:69 Serbian U20 National Team continues their hunt for the third
straight title at the European Championships. Yesterday they held off
Turkey to enter the championship game in Riga.
Miroslav Raduljica
(212-C-88, agency:
CAA Sports) and
Milan Macvan
(205-F/C-89) came up with 21 points apiece and Serbia crushed their
opponents in style. Serbia got to a quick start as they grabbed a 14:4
lead with just over 5 minutes into the game. Radjulica completed his
11-point haul in the first stanza and Serbia enjoyed a 28:17 advantage
at the first break. Balbay and
Baris Hersek
(204-F/C-88) were able to fuel Turkish rally in the second stanza as
they kept at striking distance.
Gokper Gen
(188-G-89) closed the first half with 5 straight points and Turkey
trailed by 6 points at halftime. However a 21:6 run from Serbia in the
third stanza put them ahead by 19 points. Sevinc and Ozdemor fired from
beyond the arc to trim the deficit but it was too little to spark the
intrigue. Serbia controlled the game and eased to the victory at the
end.
Mladen Jeremic
(196-G-88, agency:
CAA Sports) had
11 points, while Boban Marjanovic secured 10 for the winners.
Gokper Gen
answered with 20 points and 7 boards for Turkey.
Baris Hersek
dropped 17 points in a loss. Serbia will now take on Lithuania in the
title decider. Turkey will oppose Spain in consolation final.
Lithuania U20 - Spain U20 96:79
Lithuanian U20 National advanced to the European Championship Final
yesterday. They overcame Spanish team to reach the title decider, where
they would meet Serbia today.
Martynas Gecevicius
(194-G-88) scored 23 points to pace Lithuanian side to the win. Spain
meanwhile were denied the second shot at the title after they lost in
the championship game last year. The teams stayed close in the first
period and Spain led by a single point 19:18 after ten minutes of
action. Spain never allowed their opponents to surge ahead in the second
frame and remained in charge.
Joaquin Colom
(187-G-88) capped the half with a jumper and made it 47:42 at halftime.
Sarunas Vasiliauskas netted 10 points for Lithuania in the third period
as the Baltic team surged ahead.
Lukas Brazdauskis
(203-F-88) and Janavicius crowned the third quarter with 4 freebies and
secured a 65:61 advantage at three-quarter time.
Lukas Brazdauskis
chipped in 8 points early in the fourth term and Lithuania built a 72:65
buffer with almost 8 minutes remaining in regulation.
Joaquin Colom
and
Victor Claver
(204-F/C-88) cut the gap to 3 points with just over 3 minutes left in
the game however Lithuania prevailed at the end. They went on a stunning
16:2 run to complete an impressive hard-fought win at the end.
Lukas Brazdauskis
had 20 points and 12 boards for Lithuania.
Vytenis Lipkevicius
(200-F-89) added 15 points in a loss.
Victor Claver
nailed 19 points for Spain.
Joaquin Colom
registered 14 points, 6 assists and 4 boards in defeat.
Semifinals for 5th-8th spots
Montenegro U20 - Ukraine U20 90:53
Montenegrin U20 National Team scored a comfortable victory over Ukraine
at the European Championship in Riga yesterday. The victory allowed
Montenegro to have a chance to claim the 5th spot at the event when they
take on Italy later tonight.
Vladimir Dasic
(209-F-88, agency:
Beo Basket) came
up with another sizzling performance as he tallied 31 points, 5 boards
and 4 steals to pace Montenegro. The Balkan side got to an energetic
start to the game
Vladimir Dasic
scored 8 points to ignite Montenegro.
Sead Sehovic
(201-G/F-89) later added 5 straight points and Durisic netted a jumper
for Montenegro to enjoy a 17:10 advantage. Montenegro kept rolling
confidently and piled up a 27:16 lead at the first intermission.
Vladimir Dasic
opened the second period with 4 straight points and the gap grew to 15
points.
Vladimir Dasic
capped the half with 6 points in a row and Montenegro led 47:29 at the
interval. Montenegro stretched the margin to 30 points in the third
frame and the game turned into a one-way traffic. Montenegro dominated
completely and breezed to the victory at the end.
Sead Sehovic
poured in 19 points for Montenegro.
Igor Bijelic
(207-F/C-88, agency:
Agency No 10)
contributed 10 points for the winners.
Denys Lukashov
(187-G-89) paced Ukraine with 12 points.
Oleksandr Sizov
(200-F-88) chipped in 9 points in a loss.
Italy U20 - France U20 71:56
Italian U20 National Team will have a chance to earn the 5th spot at the
European Championship today. Yesterday they outscored French
counterparts in the semifinal for the 5th-8th spots in Riga.
Pietro Aradori
(192-G-88) came up with 24 points and 6 boards for Italy.
Giacomo Eliantonio
(204-C-88) notched 11 points for the winners.
Kim Tillie
(206-F-88) answered with 14 points for France.
Edwin Jackson
(191-G-89) had 12 points in a losing effort. Italy will now take on
Montenegro in the game for the 5th spot today. France will face Ukraine
for the 7th place at the tournament. Italy led by just 2 points after
the starting period. But the Azzurri limited their opponents to just 6
points in the second frame and built a 10-point distance at halftime.
Edwin Jackson
singlehandedly dragged France within 3 points early in the third stanza
but Italy found the right answer. Lorenzo D'Ercole fired from downtown
twice and
Pietro Aradori
added 6 points to propel Italy to a 43:29 advantage late in the period.
Moerman and Mbaye trimmed the deficit to 6 points at the start of the
fourth quarter. Italy responded with a 12:2 rally and never looked back
again. France outrebounded their opponents but sank only 29% from the
field.
Semifinals for 9th-12th spots
Russia U20 - Croatia U20 79:69 Russian U20 National finally recovered after three straight
losses at the European Championship in Latvia. Yesterday they outgunned
Croatia to earn the chance to fight for the 9th overall spot today.
Ilya Syrovatko
(193-G-88) came up with 21 points and 11 boards for Russia.
Alexey Shved
(196-G-88) nailed 20 points, pulled down 7 boards and dished out 6
assists for the winners. Russia will face Israel later today.
Zeljko Sakic
(202-F-88) paced Croatia with 17 points, 6 boards and 4 assists.
Ivan Milekovic
(197-G/F-88) and
Miro Bilan
(210-C/F-89) netted 14 points apiece in defeat. The teams were equally
matched in the first half. Russia led by one after ten minutes of action
but failed to clear off in the second stanza. The distance remained
minimal when the teams arrived to halftime break.
Zeljko Sakic and
Miro Bilan lifted
Croatia in front early in the third quarter however Russian team capped
the frame on a 9:4 surge to retain the lead at 57:54.
Alexey Shved
scored 6 points in a row early in the fourth term as Russia stretched
the margin to 9 points. Golovin and Nelyubov later teamed up for 11
points as Russia piled up an 18-point cushion with 6 minutes left in the
game. All Croatia could do was to trim the deficit to 10 points at the
end. Croatia will now play against Latvia for the 11th overall spot at
the tournament.
Latvia U20 - Israel U20 83:86 (OT) Anton Shoutvin
(205-C/F-89) scored 25 points and Israel survived extra time to
celebrate a narrow win over Latvia at the U20 European Championship in
Riga. Latvia managed to overcome a 15-point halftime deficit and cheered
up by the supportive home crowd forced overtime. But it was Israel who
had the last laugh in the game. They outscored the hosts in a
high-flying last five minutes to post an exciting victory at the end.
Gal Mekel converted a go-ahead layup for Israel with 32 seconds left in
regulation.
Arturs Berzins
(202-C/F-88) answered with two freebies to tie the score.
Kristaps Kanbergs
(190-G-88) had a chance to bring victory to the home side but his
three-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out. He improved in the extra period
when his three-pointer set Latvia in front 77:74. However Gal Mekel
drained a trey to give Israel an 82:80 advantage with just over a minute
to go. Selakovs cut the deficit but Oded Brandwein and Gal Mekel were
deadly from the charity stripe and Israel pulled away with a narrow win
at the end. They will now take on Russia for the 9th spot at the
tournament. Latvia will play against Croatia in the events finale for
both sides.
Sean Daniel
(200-F-89, agency:
Arik Krayn Services)
nailed 20 points, collected 6 boards and issued 5 assists for Israel.
Kristaps Kanbergs,
Rolands Freimanis
(208-F/C-88) and
Arturs Berzins
scored 14 points apiece in defeat. Janis Strelnieks and Toms Celmins had
13 points each for Latvia.
Division B. Stats leaders after Qualifying Round - Aug. 8, 2008
Terrence Oglesby (188-G-88) is currently the top scorer of U20
European Championship division B in Targu Mures. His team Norway is the
second ranked team in Group G thus it will continue battle for the
position nine. Oglesby scored 152 points so far which is 25.3 ppg in 6
games. His competition-high was 32 points at the opening day against
Finland.
The second on the list of top scorers after Qualifying Round is Estonian
Tanel Kurbas (195-F-88), which helped his team yesterday to reach
the semifinals. Kurbas also played 6 games averaging 22.5 ppg. He
demonstrated the best performance in the second game of Preliminary
Round netting 32 points against Austria. In the most important game for
his team so far, which was against the hosts Romania yesterday, Kurbas
scored 31 points.
Third place belongs to
Antti Kanervo (193-G/F-89) from Finland, which has 21 ppg in five
games.
The top rebounder at this moment is Romanian
Titus Nicoara (201-F-88, agency:
Interperformances) with 15 rpg.
Roeland Schaftenaar (213-F/C-88) is on the second place with 10.8
rpg while another Romanian, this time
Vlad Moldoveanu (210-C-88), is third on this list grabbing 10.6 rpg.
Aleksandar Kostoski (188-G-88, agency:
Octagon) of F.Y.R. Macedonia dished out the most assists so far 6.4
apg. Estonian
Sten Sokk (181-G-89) is the second with 6.2 apg while third place is
reserved for
Christian Koutras (189-G-88) of Sweden.
The best 'stealer' after 6 games is
Jeffery Taylor (196-G-89) from Sweden, who registered 3.3 spg.
Second is
Titus Nicoara with 2.8 while
Miroslav Petkovic (183-G-88) of Switzerland has the same digits.
Division B. Qualifying Round Day 2 - Aug. 8, 2008
Qualifying Round for
1st to 8th place - Group E
U20 Germany - U20 Portugal 71-62 Germany ended
the Qualifying Round on U20 European Championship division B undefeated.
As a reminder the Germans already beat all their rivals at the
Preliminary Round finishing it with perfect score 4-0. It means that Germany advanced to the semifinals from top of
Group F while Portugal
will continue participation on the European Championship fighting for
fifth place.
Germany was a better team from the
early beginning. After jump shot by
Robin Benzing (208-F-89, college:
Michigan) the Germans grabbed 15-8. Later
Tom-Gerhard Spoler (206-F-88) took care to stretch Germans lead to
11 points. Until the half time they reached advantage of 15 points but
thanks to
Jose Silva (194-F-89) Portugal went to it with minus 12.
Nothing has changed in third quarter as Germany still was the team which
dominated.
Oskar Fassler (198-G-88) netted 5 points in the row at the end of
this period setting the score on 57-43. Until the very end
Jose Silva and his teammates were able to come on minus 7 but it was
their maximum today.
This time Germany got the most from
Tom-Gerhard Spoler, who scored 14 points.
Elias Harris (200-F-89) was behind him adding 12 points and 4
rebounds.
Tibor Pleiss
Division A. Qualifying Round Day 3 - Aug. 8, 2008
Group E
Turkey U20 - Croatia U20 63:60
Turkish U20 National team was the first squad to enter semifinal stage
at the European Championship in Latvia yesterday. They held off Croatian
team in a dramatic clash to improve to 4-1 record in the ladder of Group
E.
Baris Hersek (204-F/C-88) came up with 19 points and 13 boards for
Turkey. Croatia opened the game with a 6:0 rally and maintained the lead
throughout the opening stanza. However trebles from
Ogun Sevinc (198-F/G-88, agency:
1x1 Sports) and Gen early in the second period and Turkey jumped in
front. The teams kept it close in the stanza and were all square at 25
at halftime. The lead changed hands for several times early in the third
stanza before
Baris Hersek,
Ogun Sevinc and
Azizcan Ozdemir (201-F-88) put Turkey in charge 51:40 late in the
frame. Turkish team tipped off the fourth quarter with an 11:4 run to
clear off to a 17-point distance. However Croatia refused to surrender.
Filip Kruslin (198-G-89) nailed 14 points in just over 3 minutes to
carry Croatia within 2 points with 11 seconds remaining.
Ogun Sevinc answered with a freebie, while Petani missed a potential
tying basket and Turkey got away with the win.
Ogun Sevinc finished with 13 points for Turkey.
Azizcan Ozdemir added 12 points and 6 boards for the winners.
Filip Kruslin nailed 16 points for Croatia.
Marino Sarlija (204-F/C-89) had 13 points in defeat.
Ukraine U20 - Israel U20 84:68
Ukrainian U20 National Team celebrated their first win at the Qualifying
round of the European Championship in Latvia. They defeated Israel to
occupy the 4th overall spot in Group E. Israel slipped to 0-5 record and
remained at the 6th spot in the ladder.
Sergiy Gladyr (196-G/F-89) knocked down 23 points to pace Ukraine.
Gal Mekel (195-G-88) answered with 17 points for Israel. The teams
traded baskets throughout the opening stanza and Ukraine enjoyed a
narrow 21:18 advantage at the break.
Denys Lukashov (187-G-89), Larin and Tonchenko stretched the margin
to 10 points midway through the second term. Israel reacted with a<
Division B. Qualifying Round Day 1 - Aug. 7, 2008
Qualifying Round - Group E
U20 F.Y.R. of Macedonia
- U20
Germany
75-81 Germany had to work
very hard in order to beat F.Y.R. of Macedonia in the
first game of the Qualifying Round on U20 European Championship division
B in Targu Mures. Germans entered into this stage transferring victory
against
Sweden from the Preliminary Round.
Thus the Germans improved to 2-0 in Group E while Macedonians dropped on
0-2 loosing all chances for the semifinals.
Macedonia's main
problem in this game were turnovers as its players committed 26. Despite
it Macedonians had a chance to take this one. Germany opened
the game better.
Lucca Staiger's
(196-G-88) triple brought 20-25 to Germany at the end of the first
stanza. During the next ten minutes Germany touched plus six but
Aleksandar Kostoski (188-G-88, agency:
Octagon)
and his teammates immediately created 7-2 run. Once again
Lucca Staiger
was successful at the Germany's last possession for 35-38.
Macedonians showed slightly better performance after the breather ending
third frame 25-20. It means that Macedonians entered into the last
stanza with 60-58. On 73-75 for Germany with 1:13 to go Macedonians
missed three pointer after what they commited two turnovers. On the
other side Per Gunther was successful from the free throw line resolving
question about the winner.
Elias Harris
(202-F-89) paced Germany to win netting 29 points and
grabbing 7 boards for 33 minutes. Per Gunther was the last player with
double-digits in Germany nailing 10 points.
Aleksandar Kostoski helped his team collecting 20 points, 7 rebounds and
4 assists but it was not enough to Macedonia against the strong Germans.
Marjan Janes
Division A. Qualifying Round Day 2 - Aug. 6, 2008
GROUP E
Turkey U20 - Lithuania U20 84:80
Turkish U20 National Team grabbed their second consecutive victory
at the Qualifying round of the European Championship in Riga. Today
they held off Lithuanian team to improve to 3-1 record in Group E.
Lithuania meanwhile suffered their initial loss at the tourney and
slipped to 3-1 record. Lithuania got to a slightly better start to
the game as
Vytenis Lipkevicius (200-F-89) and
Martynas Gecevicius (194-G-88) teamed up for 17 points in the
opening term and the Baltic team stepped in front 28:19. Juskevicius
extended the margin to 11 points with a jumper at the start of the
second quarter. However Sevinc dropped three treys and Turkey
trimmed the distance to 4 points at the interval. Turkey opened the
third frame with a 7:2 rally to surge in front. The lead then
changed hands for several times throughout the period and Lithuania
led by just a single point 65:64 heading into the fourth stanza.
Turkey finally pulled ahead with 6 straight points late in
regulation. They enjoyed an 80:76 advantage with under 2 minutes
left. Juskevicius cut the gap but
Baris Hersek (204-F/C-88) maintained the distance with 47
seconds to go.
Donatas Motiejunas (214-C-90) clipped the margin once again with
accurate freebies however
Baris Hersek netted two free throws to bring victory to Turkey.
Dogus Balbay (184-G-89) led Turkey with 20 points, 7 assists and
5 boards.
Gokper Gen (188-G-89) added 18 points, while
Can Ozcan (201-F-89) had 17 in a win.
Martynas Gecevicius came up with 16 points for Lithuania.
Zygimantas Janavicius (195-G-89, agency:
Interperformances) contributed 12 points in defeat.
Division B. Preliminary Round Day 5 - Aug. 6, 2008
Preliminary Group A
U20 F.Y.R.
of Macedonia - U20 Finland 79-63
F.Y.R. of Macedonia grabbed third victory on U20 European
Championship in Targu Mures advancing to the Qualifying Round.
Macedonians were better the
Finland taking the second place in
Preliminary Group A with score 3-1. It means than F.Y.R. of
Macedonia will compete in Group E together with
Portugal,
Germany and
Sweden. The bad
thing for Macedonians is that defeat against
Portugal from
the opening day is transferred to the next stage. On the other
side
Finland is the last ranked
team of Group A despite
Norway and
Great Britain
has the same score 1-3. Thus
Finland will continue participation
in Targu Mures in Classification Round from 17th to 19th place.
Its rivals in Group I will be
Azerbaijan
and
Switzerland.
Macedonia showed slightly better
performance in the first half. After 19-15 in the opening
quarter, Macedonians made 26-20 in 14th minute. Marjan Janeski
continued with easy baskets at the offensive end keeping plus 6
with two minutes remaining in the first half. However,
Finland succeeded to come on minus 3
but Marjan Janeski drained a jump shot at the buzzer setting the
score on 41-36 before the half time. Beginning of third frame
totally belonged to Macedonians as they created 58-45 very soon.
During the next ten minutes
Marko Simonovski (190-G-89) and
Jovan Markovski (197-F-88) shined for
Macedonia making unreachable plus 23.
This time Marjan Janeski was a clutch player of the game
demonstrating fantastic performance. He scored 26 points,
grabbed 15 rebounds and dished out 6 assists.
Jovan Markovski followed him with 18 points, 5 rebounds and
4 assists while
Marko Simonovski stopped on 14 points and 4 assists.
Baris Hersek (204-F/C-88) and
Can Ozcan (201-F-89) drained three-pointers early in the
game to give Turkey a 9:2 lead. Triples later would prove the
main weapon for Turkish team as they accounted for 12 of them
down the stretch and converting solid 44% from beyond the arc.
Oleksandr Kolchenko and Vladyslav Tonchenko hit consecutive
trebles for Ukraine as they gained a 20:17 advantage at one
point late in the first frame. However
Ogun Sevinc (198-F/G-88, agency:
1x1 Sports) quickly denied the effort with 5 points in a row
and Turkey led 25:23 after ten minutes of action. The teams
exchanged baskets throughout the second frame and Ukraine kept
it close but could not surge in front. Turkish team secured a
7-point buffer going into the locker room. Three treys from
Ogun Sevinc early in the third term allowed Turkey to break
ahead. They accumulated a 56:39 advantage and cruised from now
on. Turkey entered the fourth stanza leading by 17 points and
quickly piled up a 20-point cushion. Ukraine never rebounded
late in the encounter and Turkey breezed to the victory at the
end.
Baris Hersek dropped 19 points and pulled down 7 rebounds
for Turkey.
Ogun Sevinc added 18 points, while
Can Ozcan had 16 in a win.
Sergiy Gladyr (196-G/F-89) and
Vadym Norenko (204-F-88) notched 16 points apiece for
Ukraine. Denys Lukashov contributed 14 points in defeat.
Israel U20- Lithuania U20 70:77
Lithuania U20 remained undefeated in the U20 European
Championship being held in Latvia. In the first game of the
Qualifying round the team overcame Israel 77:70. The win could
be even more, but the Baltic team allowed the opponent to stay
closer after 11:22 in the last period.
Martynas Gecevicius (194-G-88) led the winners with 14
points.
Vytenis Lipkevicius (200-F-89) posted 13, while
Zygimantas Janavicius (195-G-89, agency:
Interperformances) netted 11.
Preliminary Group A
U20 Finland
- U20 Portugal 63-76
Portugal finished competition in Preliminary Group A with
perfect score 4-0 advancing to the Qualifying Round of U20
European Championship division B. This time
Finland was the team which
suffered
Portugal's power. Despite this defeat
Finland still has a chance to reach
the next round. Namely, if
Finland succeeds to beat F.Y.R. Macedonia in the
next round and at the same time if
Norway take care of
Great Britain second place will be reserved for
Finland.
Finland had many
troubles in the paint against the Portuguese, which registered
ten rebounds more than its opponent. At the same time Portuguese
had wonderful stroke from behind the arc making 11 of 21
attempts.
Jose Silva (194-F-89) drained 4 of those 11 attempts for
his team. First ten minutes of the game belonged to
Portugal, which ended it with plus 5.
Finland had much better performance in the next period and
mostly owing to
Aleksi Huuskonen (184-G-88) and
Juho-Matti Lehtoranta (191-G-89) tied the score on
32-32 before the half time.
Aleksi Huuskonen continued at the same rhythm after the
breather which resulted with 42-35 in 16th minute.
Fernando Sico (202-F/C-88) and
Jose Silva immediately answered leading 13-5 run for
47-48. At the center of the last frame Portuguese made another
impressive run 15-3 setting the score on unreachable 56-71.
Jose Silva was the key player of
Portugal in this game adding 16
points and 6 boards. Interesting is that
Division B. Preliminary Round Day 3 - Aug. 4, 2008
Preliminary Group A
U20
Portugal - U20
Norway 84-81 Portugal kept
the top position after three days on U20 European Championship
division B in Targu Mures. This time Portuguese outplayed
Norway improving
to 3-0 while their opponent dropped on 0-2.
Portuguese had a pretty good stroke from behind the arc in this
game. Actually they had better percentage for 3-pts than for FG2
(56.5% for 3-pts and 48.3% FG2). Except of the first couple of
minutes when
Norway
created 4 points lead,
Portugal was the team which
dominated.
Fabio Lima (178-G-88) and his teammates had plus 6 at the
half time but inconvenient Norwegians didn't give up. With two
minutes remaining on the second quarter they tied the score on
29-29. Very soon
Tiago Pinto (183-G-88) and
Fabio Lima answered with 14-9 run taking back 5 points lead
before the half time. First double digit advantage
Portugal recorded in 28th minute.
Later, thanks to
Stian Mjoes (185-G-89) and
Christian Hinsch (188-G-88, agency:
Court Side), Norway made 14-4 run coming on 82-81 with just
6 second to go but at the Portugal's last offense Cordeiro made
two FTs for 84-81.
Fabio Lima paced
Portugal to win collecting 26 points
and 13 rebounds.
Jose Silva (194-F-89) and
Tiago Pinto contributed scoring 13 points each.
Stian Mjoes was the best scorer for the loosing side with 22
points while
Terrence Oglesby (188-G-88) had one point less than him but
with 4 rebounds.
Christian Hinsch followed these two players netting 13
points. In the next round of U20 European Championship division
B Portugal will meet
Finland. On the
other side
Norway
will take on F.Y.R. of
Division A. Preliminary Round Day 3 - Aug. 3, 2008
GROUP A
Croatia U20- Ukraine U20 91:101
Ukraine U20 won the first game of the U20 European Championship
and made it to the Qualifying Round. In the last game of the
group the team beat Croatia U20 101:91. A massive 37:20 in the
second quarter had a great push that gave Ukrainian side the
lead until the end.
Oleksandr Kolchenko (198-F/G-88) led the winners with 29
points.
Sergiy Gladyr (196-G/F-89) posted 20, while
Vadym Norenko (204-F-88) netted 17.
Franjo Bubalo (194-G/F-88) finished the game with 20 points
and
Ivan Milekovic (197-G/F-88) scored 18.
Croatia scored first three points in the game and desired the
victory not less than Ukraine. The latter replied with some
baskets and finished the first period at 22:21 lead. In the
second quarter the court saw only one team as Ukraine was too
good for the opponent. A rain of points downed on the Croatian
basket as Ukraine scored no less than 37 points in the second
quarter led by
Oleksandr Kolchenko and
Sergiy Gladyr who combined 23 of those points, on the way to
a 59:41 lead at half time. Oleksandr Kolchenko scored two free throws for 20-points
advantage in the beginning of the third. Croatia however did not
give up and reduced the gap before the final stanza. Bilan made
it 75:64 before the teams entered the last quarter. Kruslin cut
it to 74:76 from the arc but Ukraine did not look behind in the
game and won 101:91.
Lithuania U20- Greece U20 90:77
Lithuania won Preliminary Round in Group A of U20 European
Championship. Just few minutes ago the team overcame Greece
U20 90:77. The latter is on the way to the 13-16
classification games. Trailing 18:23 after the opening
quarter the favorites replied in the second period.
Martynas Gecevicius (194-G-88) top-scored for the
winners with 21 points.
Lukas Brazdauskis (203-F-88) collected 14 points and 14
rebounds, whilst
Adas Juskevicius (193-G/F-89) added 13.
Teo Petani (190-G-88) hit a three-pointer late in the
first frame to cut the deficit to 7 points for Croatia. But
Lithuania never allowed Croatia to exploit success and kept
them at distance throughout the second frame. Lithuania were
well in control 39:29 at the interval and stretched the
margin to 14 points early in the third frame. Back-to-back
trebles from
Martynas Gecevicius (194-G-88) gave Lithuania a 17-point
advantage midway through the third period. They went on
extending the margin and entered the fourth term ahead by 25
points. Croatia never bounced back in the fourth term and
suffered their first defeat in the competition.
Martynas Gecevicius led Lithuania with 18 points.
Adas Juskevicius (193-G/F-89) added 17 points, while
Lukas Brazdauskis (203-F-88) nailed 13 for the winners.
Teo Petani came up with 13 points for Croatia.
Miro Bilan (210-C/F-89) had 12 points in a losing case.
Ukraine U20 - Greece U20 71:74 Ukrainian U20 National Team suffered their second
straight loss at the European Championship in Riga.
Yesterday they were narrowly edged by Greek side. Thus
Ukraine fell to 0-2 record at the bottom of preliminary
Group A.
Vadym Norenko (204-F-88) fired game-high 25 points but
it was not enough to overcome perky Greece. It was a roller
coaster type of game with both teams surging for the win.
Ukraine led for most of the first frame but
Michail Tsairelis (206-F/C-88) knocked down 4 points in
a 6:0 run from Greek team as they grabbed a 25:22 advantage
at the end of the first period.
Oleksandr Kolchenko (198-F/G-88), Sergiy Gladyr and
Vadym Norenko answered with a 9:0 rally late in the
second period when Ukraine turned a 5-point deficit into a
4-point advantage at halftime. The lead changed hands for 3
times in the third period before Greece went on a 13
Division B. Preliminary Round Day 2 - Aug. 2, 2008
Preliminary Group A
U20
Norway - U20
Finland 87-99
After yesterday's defeat against
Great Britain,
Norway succeeded to grab the first
one on U20 European Championship division B in Targu Mures.
Thus
Finland improved score to 1-1
in Preliminary Group A while
Norway suffered defeat at its first
appearance on this prestigious event.
Interesting is that both teams registered the same number of
rebounds in this game, 34.
Finland had much
better stroke from behind the arc making 12 of 29 attempts,
which is 41.4%. On the other side
Norway had just 25%. After almost
leveled first stanza,
Finland grabbed the first bigger lead
at the center of the next one. In was 31-37 at that point of
game.
Antti Kanervo (193-G/F-89) and
Aleksi Huuskonen (184-G-88) took care for 7-2 run before
the half time setting the score on 38-50. During the next 20
minutes Finish players kept their lead without any bigger
efforts. They didn't let
Norway to come
any closer than 7 points.
Antti Kanervo paced
Finland to win in this game
collecting 25 points, 5 boards and 4 assists.
Aleksi Huuskonen also had fantastic performance adding
21 points and 7 rebounds while
Juho-Matti Lehtoranta (191-G-89) stopped on 14 points
and 8 rebounds.
Terrence Oglesby (188-G-88) was totally the best in
Norway today
draining 32 points.
Miilah Kombat (201-F-88) followed him with 17 points and
14 rebounds while
Magne Fivelstad (193-G/F-89) had 12 points. In the next
round
Norway will take on
Portugal while
Finland has a
day-off.
U20 Norway
Division B. Preliminary Round Day 1 - Aug. 2, 2008
PRELIMINARY GROUP A
U20
Portugal - U20 F.Y.R. of
Macedonia 76-71 Portugal
celebrated at the opening day of U20 European Championship
division B in Romanian city Targu Mures. As a reminder
Portugal and
Macedonia are together with
Norway,
Great Britain
and
Finland placed into Preliminary Group
A. Two best teams of this group will advance to the Qualifying
Round while all other teams will continue championship in
Classification Rounds.
Portugal took this one mostly owing
to well played first stanza as well as pretty good stroke from
behind the arc. Portuguese made 9 of 21 attempts which is almost
43%. Macedonians opened this game showing their nerves. They
threw couple of bad passes and missed few lay-ups and jump shots
what
Portugal exploited setting the score
on 12-4 after 5 minutes. Until the end of the first quarter
Portuguese extended its lead to 14. They succeeded to keep it
until 28th minute after what
Macedonia made mini run 4-0 for 36-26
at the half time.
Aleksandar Kostoski (188-G-88, agency:
Octagon) and his teammates showed much better performance in
third quarter. After every minute they melted
Portugal's lead which finally
resulted with 54-51 before the last frame.
Portugal opened it with 7-2 after what
Macedonia succeeded to come on minus
3 just once. It seemed the
Portugal controlled the entire
quarter without any bigger efforts.
Fabio Lima (196-C-88) paced
Portugal to win netting 22 points and
grabbing 8 rebounds.
Jose Silva (195-F-89) followed him with 18 points while
Pedro Pereira (185-G-89) stopped on 12 points and 4 assists.
Aleksandar Kostoski was totally the best player in
Macedonia
registerin
Division A. Preliminary Round Day 1 - Aug. 1, 2008
Group A
Lithuania U20 - Ukraine U20 93:91
Lithuanian U20 National Team opened their European
Championship campaign with a narrow win over Ukraine today. The
Baltic team managed to overcome a 38-point outburst from
Sergiy Gladyr (196-G/F-89) to post the initial win at the
tournament.
Martynas Gecevicius (193-G-88) fired 30 points to pace
Lithuania. The teams exchanged baskets before Vadym Norenko
scored 5 points in a row to set Ukraine ahead 15:11. They
maintained the lead and when Lukashov capped the first period
with a long bomb Ukraine enjoyed a 26:22 advantage. Gladyr
exploded with 14 points in the second frame but it still did not
prevent Lithuania from gaining a 49:47 lead at the interval.
Vadym Norenko and Gladyr quickly gave the lead back to Ukraine
early in the third period. The game remained close and the lead
changed hands for several times but
Oleksandr Kolchenko (198-F/G-88) had the last laugh in the
frame as Ukraine entered the final period up by 4 points. Andriy
Novikov and
Oleksandr Kolchenko stretched the margin to 6 points at the
start of the fourth term but Lithuania refused to fold. They
went on a 17:4 rally midway through the quarter to gain a 91:84
advantage with under 4 minutes left in regulation. Galdyr
knocked down 5 straight points to drag Ukraine back into contest
but Lithuania withstood the effort. Zygimantas Janavicius
converted two freebies late in the game and sealed the winning
outcome for the Baltic side at the end.
Vytenis Lipkevicius (196-F-89) netted 15 points for
Lithuania.
Marius Valukonis (198-F-88) added 14 points and 8 boards in
a win.
Oleksandr Kolchenko finished with 22 points for Ukraine.
Vadym Norenko dropped 13 points in a losing case.
Croatia U20 - Greece U20 74:67 Croatian U20 National Team got to a winning start at
the European Championship in Latvia. They pip Greece in overtime
to earn the first victory in the preliminary Group A. Greece
looked better in the three quarters but Croatia turned things
around in the final stanza and were close to seal the winning
outcome in regulation. However Greece forced the overtime just
to see Balkan team pull away with win at the end. Greek team led
16:7 after a tight first period and did not allow Croatian team
to surge in front in the second stanza. Greece enjoyed a 5-point
advantage at halftime and continued to dominate after the long
break. Greek team extended the gap to 7 points before the final
term but
Zeljko Sakic (203-F-88) fueled the fourth term rally from
Croatia. They outscored Greece and piled up a 6-point lead with
40 seconds remaining in the period. But Greece first trimmed the
distance to 3 points
The Draw for U20 European championship is being held in Venice - Feb. 17, 2008
Yesterday the draw of the preliminary round of U20 European
championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Four groups with 4
teams in each were chosen for Division A competition. The U20
European championship will take place in Ventspils, Latvia from
August 1 through August 10. Three top teams of each group will
advance to the qualifying round, where they will fight for the
right to go into the semifinal stage.
So the Groups are as follows: Group A: Croatia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Greece
Group B: Israel, Georgia, Turkey, Italy
Group C: Latvia, Montenegro, Spain, Bulgaria
Group D: Russia, Slovenia, France, Serbia
Meanwhile Division B tournament will take place in Targu
Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4
groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D.
Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying
round. Group A: Norway, Portugal, Great Britain, Finland,
Macedonia
Group B: Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic,
Azerbaijan
Group C: Slovak Republic, Estonia, Austria, Belgium,
Switzerland
Group D: Netherlands, Romania, Poland, Hungary
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Serbia won Eurobasket U20 2008 (Photo: FIBA)
Germany won Eurobasket U20 Div.B 2008 Championship (Photo: FIBA)
![Baris Hersek](https://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=FIN&playerid=10</span><br><br> <img src="https://www.eurobasket.com/images/ball1.gif" border="0"> <font face="Arial" color="#ff0000" size="2"> <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"> Division A. Qualifying Round Day 1 - Aug. 5, 2008 </span></font><br> <span class="style100"> <font face="Arial" size=1 class=style100><FONT class=style100 face=Arial size=1><STRONG>Group E<BR>Turkey U20 - Ukraine U20 86:73</STRONG><BR>Turkish U20 National Team secured the first win at the Qualifying round of the European Championship today. They tipped off this stage of the tournament with a confident win over Ukraine. Turkey thus improved to 2-1 record in Group E ladder, dropping Ukraine to 1-2. <A href=){kind=link}
![Teo Petani](https://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=GRE&</span><br><br> <img src="https://www.eurobasket.com/images/ball1.gif" border="0"> <font face="Arial" color="#ff0000" size="2"> <span style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"> Division A. Preliminary Round Day 2 - Aug. 3, 2008 </span></font><br> <span class="style100"> <font face="Arial" size=1 class=style100><FONT class=style100 face=Arial size=1><STRONG>Group A<BR>Lithuania U20 - Croatia U20 88:69</STRONG><BR>Lithuanian U20 National Team maintained their perfect record at the start of the European Championship in Latvia. Yesterday they held off Croatian side to improve to 2-0 record on top of preliminary Group A. The win also meant Lithuania ensured their Qualifying round birth at the tournament. Croatia meanwhile suffered their first loss at the event and dropped to 1-1 record. The Baltic team dominated throughout the action and never raised any questions about the outcome. They got off to a better start and enjoyed a double-digit lead midway through the opening stanza. <A href=){kind=link}