Greece, Italy and Lithuania stay perfect at close of group play

 

SKOPJE (North Macedonia) - The Group Phase at the FIBA U16 European Championship is now complete and the Round of 16 matchups are confirmed.

A trio of teams remain unbeaten as Greece, Italy and Lithuania improved to 3-0 with the tournament heading into a rest day before the Round of 16 knockout stage begins on August 16.

Group A

France cruised to a 100-46 victory over Netherlands to finish 2-1 in Group A. It was a dominant and balanced performance as all 12 French players scored and played at least 13 minutes.

Lithuania kept their foot on the gas and took care of Israel in a 98-69 wire-to-wire win. Kristupas Smirnov recorded a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double in 20:32 off the bench, while Nojus Indrusaitis led Lithuania in scoring with 18 points in only 18 minutes.

Group B

Serbia halted Slovenia's win streak and came away with an 86-81 win, as both teams finish group play at 2-1.

Serbia trailed by as many as 13 points and only led for 10:40, but they led when it mattered most and just kept hanging around long enough to make a push in the second half. It was an all-around effort, as Serbia's leading scorer Ognjen Radosic left with an injury. Four players scored in double figures and two others scored 9 points.

Croatia closed out group play with a convincing 86-59 victory against Denmark to move into a three-way tie at 2-1 in Group B. A huge 34-point first quarter opened things up early and put the game out of reach.

Dino Subasic finished with18 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals, and his 5 steals were a team-high of their 18 total. A key difference in the game was Denmark's 28 turnovers that led to 34 points for Croatia.

Group C

Turkey finished group play at 2-1 after taking down Poland 71-59 behind Deniz Gokpınar's efficient game of 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 10-of-11 shooting from the field.

Turkey grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and outscored Poland 14-0 in second chance points.

Italy stayed undefeated by edging out Latvia 71-68. Latvia trailed by as many as 11 and got to within a single point on a couple occasions late in the game, but Italy held firm. Italy's 24 points from turnovers proved to be important for them in the narrow win.

Group D

Greece secured the top spot in Group D and completed group play at 3-0 after another comfortable win against Montenegro, 79-45.

Greece scored more points in the paint (46) than Montenegro did as a team and were led by Neoklis Avdalas (18 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals) and Stylianos Maragkoudakis (17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals).

Spain clinched the second spot in Group D at 2-1 after winning their final group play game over hosts North Macedonia, 86-59. Spain had four players score in double figures with three of them coming off the bench to combine for 38 of Spain's 50 bench points.

Spain also outscored North Macedonia by 24 points from three-point range.

Round of 16 pairings (Tuesday, August 16):

- Lithuania v Denmark
- Turkey v North Macedonia
- Serbia v Israel
- Greece v Latvia
- France v Croatia
- Italy v Montenegro
- Slovenia v Netherlands
- Spain v Poland

FIBA