Romania, Croatia, Great Britain and Russia storm past Quarter-Finals barrier

ORADEA (FIBA U20 European Championship 2017, Division B) - Tournament hosts Romania, as well as Croatia, Great Britain and Russia are one step away from earning promotion at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2017, Division B after reaching the Semi-Finals in Oradea.

With places in next year’s Division A up for grabs, Great Britain will now go up against Croatia, while Russia will try to stop the undefeated Romania. The losing sides will have one shot at redemption in the bronze-medal game, with the third-place team also moving on up.

Emanuel Cate was the driving force in maintaining Romania’s unbeaten run in the 61-57 victory against Portugal in the Quarter-Finals, registering his fourth consecutive double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Bogdan Nicolescu and Nandor Kuti had 11 points apiece for the winners, while Carlos Cardoso collected 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists for Portugal.

After a back and forth tussle with Belgium, Russia ran away with an 80-70 victory in the fourth quarter with a well-rounded team performance, propelled by a 16-point night from Ilia Karpenkov.

On the other side of the bracket, Great Britain, who have been on a roll since losing their tournament opener, defeated Poland 71-69 for their fourth consecutive victory in Oradea behind 13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals from Rayell Eytle-Rock

Meanwhile, Georgia couldn’t get the job done against Croatia, pushing one of the tournament favorites to the limit but ultimately coming up short 74-71 in a close-fought game.

Leo Cizmic had 18 points and 8 rebounds, Kresimir Ljubicic added 19 points and 13 boards, with 18-year-old Goga Bitadze finishing the game with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks in a losing effort.

Finland, Hungary, and the Netherlands got their Classification Games 9-16 underway with double-digit wins, while Kosovo will also be contending for higher places after edging The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 66-64 in the last game of the day.

The Aatu Kivimaki-led Finland defeated Slovak Republic 93-72, Hungary belted Albania 80-44 behind 16 points apiece from Attila Demeter and Boris Krnjajski, while the Netherlands dealt with Belarus 83-62.

In the Classification Games for places 17-21, Armenia got the upper hand on Azerbaijan, 82-80, while Malta got their first win of the tournament after doubling down on Moldova with a 96-48 scoreline.

FIBA