Portugal, Czech Republic win promotion, Russia and Belgium battle for the last ticket

MATOSINHOS (Portugal) - The two places on the podium are taken by Portugal and Czech Republic, who will also move up to Division A in 2020. Russia and Belgium will play the all-important game on Sunday.

Czech Republic were up by 10 points in the first quarter and they never looked back again, storming to an 82-64 win over Belgium to secure promotion. Vit Krejci was in charge of scoring with 18 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, while Jan Zidek had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Miroslav Stafl and Lubos Kovar equally combined for 28 points, and Jan Karlovsky rounded up the double digit scorers with 10 points. Haris Bratanovic with 14 and Vrenz Bleijenbergh with 13 were the only two Belgian players with more than 10 points.

Czech Republic will face Portugal in the title game. It was a much closer game in the other Semi-Final, as the hosts Portugal used all of the energy from the crowd to see off Russia 76-69 and secure a spot in Division A for the first time ever. Russia still have a chance to bounce back, winner of the Third Place Game also moves up to the elite level next summer.

Rafael Lisboa was on target for 24 points, done on 7-of-14 shooting, and Vladyslav Voytso rocked the crowd with 18 points and numerous highlight plays.

Of course, the story of Portuguese success would not be complete without Neemias Queta. The big guy was a scary figure inside once more, 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, with 14 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block, giving him an efficiency of 29, edging out Maksim Karvanen of Russia, who had 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block.

FIBA