EC U18 – Quarterfinalists are set in Latvia and Lithuania

Group E
Italy – Ukraine 76-51
Amedeo Tessitori’s 18 points and seven rebounds paced the Italians into the quarterfinals of the U18 European Championships with a 76-51 victory over Ukraine. Italy’s 27 points in the second quarter put the game out of reach early. Matteo Imbro added 16 points and Alessandro Procacci contributed 10 for the winners. Yevgen Sakhniuk and Igor Boyarkin countered with 18 and 10 points, respectively, for Ukraine in the loss.
Greece – Serbia 59-64
Serbia moved into the quarterfinals with a five-point win over Greece. The two squads traded the lead for three quarters, but a hot shooting streak late in the final stanza put the game away for Serbia. Nikola Jankovic paced the victors with 20 points and 14 rebounds while teammate Luka Andusic contributed 17 points. Greece’s Michalis Kamperidis scored 17 in the losing effort and Diamantis Slaftsakis added 16.
Lithuania – Spain 72-65
Lithuania remained undefeated in the tournament with a win over Spain. Augustnas Jankaitis dropped in 14 for the winners and Jokubs Gintvainis and Lukas Lekavicius contributed 13 each of Lithuania. Oriol Pauli and Juan Saiz scored 12 each for Spain.
Group F
Russia – Turkey 71-67
The Russians overcame a 37:26 deficient at halftime with solid play at the end of the third quarter and a 10-1 run to open the fourth. The squads traded the lead throughout the last quarter, but the game was ultimately decided on the free-throw line. Oleg Alferov accounted for 17 of the winners points, while squad mates Mikhail Kulagin added 13 and Igor Kanygin dropped in 11. Burak Yildizli chalked up 11 points for Turkey and Cedi Osman contributed 10.
Croatia – Bulgaria 65-84
The winners came out with the hot shooting hands and racked up 27 points to take an early nine-point lead. By halftime the margin had been extended to 21 points, 50:29, to put previously undefeated Croatia in a deep hole that they were never able to get out, sending the Bulgarians into the Quarterfinals. Aleksandar Vezenkov paced the winner with 17 points and seven rebounds. Nikolay Grozev added 14 and Kris Minkov contributed 12 in the win. Jakov Mustapic lead all scorers with 25 for Croatia, while Dominik Mavra and Tomislav Gabric scored 13 each in the loss.
Slovenia – Latvia 60-61
Latvia jumped out to a 13-point advantage at the intermission. Slovenia fought back and had an opportunity for the win, but a missed layup with seconds to play moved Latvia into the quarterfinals. Davis Geks lead the winners with 20 points, Roberts Krastins and Ivars Zvigurs added eight apiece in the winning effort. Matic Rebec lead all scorers with 24 for Slovenia and Tomaz Bolcina added 18 in the loss.
Group G
Germany – Denmark 75-61
Germany earned a decisive 14-point win over Denmark to keep their tournament hopes alive. A 26-point second quarter put the Germans up by 10 at the half and solid defense in the fourth quarter which limited Denmark to 10 points sealed the win. Gavin Schilling paced German with 20 points and seven rebounds, Ismet Akpinar added 10 and Johannes Thiemann contributed nine for the winners. The Denmark squad was led by Rasmus Larsen’s 14 points and eight rebounds, and Peter Moeller’s 11.
France – Poland 83-62
France reversed a five-point deficient at the half by holding Poland to 17 points in the second half to walk away with a 21-point victory. Mouhammadu Jaiteh dropped in 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the winners, and Alexandre Chassang added 15 points and Kevin Harley contributed 14. Damian Jeszke and Mikolaj Witlinski paced Poland with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Next Day Schedule
9-12 Place
Greece Aug. 17 Slovenia
Turkey Aug. 17 Ukraine
Group G
Poland Aug. 17 Germany
France Aug. 17 Denmark
Quarterfinal
Lithuania Aug. 17 Latvia
Croatia Aug. 17 Italy
Spain Aug. 17 Russia
Bulgaria Aug. 17 Serbia