Croatia roll past Bulgaria for first Division B crown, Georgia take third place

PITESTI (Romania) - Croatia showed they are the class of the FIBA U16 European Championship 2023, Division B as they cruised to an undefeated run to the title, finishing off their first Division B crown with a comfortable win over Bulgaria.

A year on from their first Division A relegation since 2003, Croatia secured their return with an 85-67 victory having set the tone with a 15-2 start. They were never really challenged throughout the tournament with an average winning margin of 30.8 points.

Borna Katanovic collected 26 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals and ended up taking home MVP honors. Roko Jemo, who joined Katanovic on the All-Star Five, scored 21 points with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals while Toni Josipovic chipped in 19 points.

Mihail Kalinov and Kaloyan Kolev posted 12 points apiece to lead Bulgaria, who had already earned promotion back to Division A for the first time since 2011 by reaching the title showdown.  

Elsewhere, on the last day of the competition, Mate Khatiashvili made two free throws with 12 seconds left to give Georgia a 70-68 victory and take third place over hosts Romania.

Khatiashvili finished with 23 points and Avtandil Bakhtadze added 18 points and 15 rebounds for the winners. The hosts could not take advantage of Codrut-Alexander Dinu scoring 31 points as they came up agonizingly short in the last moments.

Georgia celebrate finishing third

Hungary defeated Estonia 73-68 to claim fifth place. Slovakia claimed seventh with a 65-53 victory over Czech Republic, paced by Maros Golian's 25 points. Denmark finished the tournament in ninth place after an 83-69 win over Great Britain - Joost Dalgaard-Duus and Noah Norgaard both scoring 16 points.

Armin Korlatovic collected a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds in a 65-61 win for Bosnia and Herzegovina over Sweden for 11th place, while 13th spot went to Portugal after a 69-63 triumph over Luxembourg.

Gudlaugur Davidsasson scored 20 points in Iceland's 83-72 win over Ukraine for 15th place, Netherlands grabbed 17th place with a 76-58 win over Austria and Switzerland took 19th after an 85-73 win over Norway with Simeon Maret scoring 17 points.

Final standings

1. Croatia
2. Bulgaria
3. Georgia
4. Romania
5. Hungary
6. Estonia
7. Slovakia
8. Czech Republic
9. Denmark
10. Great Britain
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. Sweden
13. Portugal
14. Luxembourg
15. Iceland
16. Ukraine
17. Netherlands
18. Austria
19. Switzerland
20. Norway
21. Ireland

FIBA