NOVI SAD (FIBA U16 European Championship 2018) - It took nerves of steel, but Latvia have made it back from -16 in the second half, to take down Israel and book a place in the Quarter-Finals.

It seemed Israel would cruise to the win when they took their biggest lead in the third quarter, but Latvia punished every single mistake they've made until the end, as Toms Skuja and Kristians Sulcs sank all the free throws in the last minute to seal an 85-81 win in the Round of 16.

Skuja had 16 points to lead his team, but Kriss Helmanis proved how important he is for this Latvian squad. The center missed the last two games with an ankle injury, he was back to action on Tuesday, getting 8 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks, and Latvia were a +33 team with him on the court.

Latvia will face Turkey in the Quarter-Finals, as Alperen Sengun had a 19-point, 20-rebound double-double in a 97-72 win over Georgia.

Other than Latvia and Israel, Greece and Estonia played a close one, too. There were 17 lead changes in their matchup, but when Ellada took it at the end of the third quarter, they weren't about to let it slip away anymore. Estonia fell apart over the last two minutes, the final score 83-66 was also the biggest margin between them.

Andreas Kalogiros had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals for Greece, who dedicated the win for their injured captain Anastasios Kostopoulos. Greece's number 8 took a blow to the back of the head three days ago, and was kept in hospital to monitor the situation. He is now all set to be released, but needs to be moved to a Greek hospital as soon as he arrives in his homeland.

Greece will play Spain in the Quarter-Finals. A 33-5 first quarter is all you need to know about their dominance in a 102-49 win over Montenegro. Pau Tendero scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half, and he spent less than 20 minutes on the floor for Spain.

Roko Prkacin had the best individual performance of the day. With his father Niksa in attendance in Novi Sad, Prkacin shot 10-of-11 from the field for 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 blocks, giving him an efficiency rating of 48, all in just 25 minutes of action.

Croatia had zero trouble with Italy, winning by a mirroring score of 85-58. Up next for the men in red and white are Lithuania, who walked all over the Netherlands in an 84-53 win, paced by Hubertas Pivorius and his 21 points.

Finally, hosts Serbia had no trouble with Slovenia, taking a 20-point lead to the halftime team talks, and not allowing Slovenia a way back into the game. Nikola Manojlovic had 22 points, got help with 18 points in 12 minutes by Lazar Stefanovic, and Stefan Agoc scored 15 to help Serbia celebrate an 88-63 victory.

Serbia are up against France in the Quarter-Finals. Johann Begarin scored 21 points, but Yvan Ouedraogo takes the game honors for France, with 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting and 9 rebounds also to his name, more than enough for an 83-56 win over Germany.

Wednesday's Quarter-Finals pairings:

• Lithuania v Croatia 13:45
• Serbia v France 20:30
  
  
• Latvia v Turkey 16:00
• Spain v Greece 18:15

Top scorer of the day: Roko Prkacin and Pau Tendero shared this title on Tuesday. Both were very productive in limited time to reach 26 points apiece, Prkacin missed only once from the field, Tendero twice.

Top rebounder of the day: Turkey's Alperen Sengun had 11 offensive boards, that alone would have put him among the top rebounders of the day. He also had 9 defensive rebounds, giving him an overwhelming total of 20 rebounds on Tuesday!

Top passer of the day: Augustas Marciulionis again. The Lithuanian point guard is topping this department; 8 assists on the day take him to an average of 6.5 per game, trailing only Israel's Amit Aharoni.

Top thief of the day: Alexandros Nikolaidis stole the show for Greece, played an amazing second half, and took the possession away from his opponents a day-high 5 times.

Top blocker of the day: Matej Bosnjak of Croatia blocked 4 shots, but Estonia's Ken-Martii Reinart matched his total. What is even more impressive - Reinart had 4 blocks in 13 minutes of action.

FIBA