Lithuania defeat Belarus to claim Division B throne; Israel place third to clinch promotion

AUSTRIA (FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B) – Lithuania lifted the FIBA U18 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B trophy in Oberwart after putting a bow on a stellar campaign with a well-deserved victory over Belarus in the Final on Sunday.

Having broken away to a double-digit advantage already in the opening quarter of play, the Baltic side handed their Belarusian neighbors their first defeat of the tournament with an 86-71 triumph in the title-decider.

Lithuania found a surprise hero in the sharp-shooting small forward Patricija Sribkyte, who connected on 5-of-7 attempts from three-point land for a game-high 23 points, having not scored more than 11 points in any other game.

It has been a successful summer for Lithuania in FIBA youth competitions for women

Gabija Segzdaite chipped in with a 15-point and 13-rebound double-double, while Kristina Masionyte collected 12 points and 5 assists.

For Belarus, Sabira Ahayeva had a team-high 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, as Kseniya Malashka crammed the boxscore with 17 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Belarus and Lithuania were also among the teams who earned promotion at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship 2018, Division B earlier in the summer after placing second and third, respectively.

Belarus were undefeated in Austria heading into the Final

Israel rounded out the podium in Oberwart by producing a 63-51 victory over Turkey in the Third-Place Game, snatching up the extra promotion ticket to next year's Division A event alongside bronze medals.

Lior Garzon paced the Israeli side with an 18-point and 11-rebound double-double, Gaya Sless collected 11 points, while Offir Kesten Raz chipped in with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 steals.

On the other end of the floor, Sevval Akalan was the only double-digit scorer for Turkey with 11 points, while Sevval Gul had 9 points and 15 rebounds in a losing effort.

Israel joined Lithuania and Belarus on the podium

After being bounced by Lithuania in the Quarter-Finals, Portugal placed 5th in the final standings after topping the Netherlands 71-44, Finland signed off from the tournament by easing past Ukraine 80-56 in the Classification Game 7-8, while Romania inscribed a 56-45 win over Great Britain to secure 9th place.

In the Classification Game 11-12, Greece held off Luxembourg 62-55, with Denmark lining up next in the final order of teams following a 68-55 win against Slovakia and Switzerland besting Cyprus 58-37 to finish 15th in the standings.

The tournament hosts Austria registered their third consecutive victory and got revenge against Group Phase rivals Montenegro with a 74-61 victory in the Classification Game 17-18. Further down in the standings, Iceland nipped Bulgaria 75-71, Albania clipped Kosovo 63-61, while Norway avoided the wooden spoon by beating Georgia 57-52.

FIBA