FIBA U18 European Championship, Day 2 Second Stage

Day 2 of the Second Stage at the FIBA U18 European Championship saw Group E and Group F take shape as the nation’s compete to make the Quarter-final. France was handed its first loss by a Serbia team looking for consistency in Group E, but along with Spain the French seems destined for the next round. Spain put Germany away, although both teams are still able to qualify, while Latvia maintained its hopes by seeing off down and out Czech Republic.

In Group F, Lithuania and defending champs Turkey both received their first losses, but both are fighting for first place still. Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosts Greece, and Italy are all locked on 202 after wins, but only two of those nations can progress.

Group E
Latvia picked up its first win of the FIBA U18 European Championship with a huge 92-56 win over the Czech Republic. Both teams entered the contest winless, but Latvia went big to collect a win that keeps them in the running for the last eight. The winning effort hit 46% from downtown (16-of-35) while the Czech’s could only drain four attempts from triple distance. The Latvians also looked to the bench more, bringing in 30 points from the side players, while the losing team only notched 10 points from the bench.

Serbia’s patchy form continued, although on Day 2 it was for the better as the team bounced back from yesterday’s defeat to Spain with a 64-75 win over France. It was France’s first loss, but Les Bleus are still odds on to qualify and a win over Germany tomorrow would also tie up first place in Group E. As for Serbia, the team now has a chance from 2-2 and will look to Borisa Simanic to help the cause again against the Czech Republic tomorrow. He was hot in this game with a game high 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Spain continued to look like a title contender with a win over Germany. The 76-73 victory pushed the Spanish to 3-1 and they are in contention for top spot depending on results in the next round of games. Xabier Lopez-Arosteguj collected 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals for the winners, while Isaiah Hartenstein doubled up for Germany on his way to 16 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, five steals and three blocks.

Group F
Bosnia and Herzegovina brushed past Russia 67-61 to move to 2-2 in Group F and put a foot in the Eighthfinals. As for Russia, they are out of the running for a quarter-final berth and will now tackle Greece next as they try to avoid relegation. The Bosnians had looked in control throughout and actually led by 15 points at one stage, but a nervy closing act gave the Russians a sniff at victory. Russia pulled to within four points with less than a minute on the clock, but Bosnia hit back late on to secure the win.

Italy joined Greece and Bosnia-Herzegovina on 2-2 in Group F and will face off against the Bosnians in the next game, the winner will be the one to progress. The Italians handed Lithuania their first defeat with 77-70 success, although Lithuania still sits pretty at the top of the group and can grab first place on Wednesday. The Azzurri’s bench played a huge part in the win, coming to the hardwood and providing 51 points overall. Leonardo Tote was the scoring architect with 18 points in the win.

Reigning champions Turkey lost for the first time as tournament hosts Greece lay a big 54-77 loss on the champs. The hosts really rose to the challenge as they knew a loss would mean elimination from the last 8 running. Greece produced big with 49% shooting for the game, controlling the key areas and hitting 48 points in the paint. Vasilis Charalampopoulos was sensational on his way to 15 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds, two boards short of claiming the first U18 European Championship triple double since 2004.