U20 Men's Games: Saturday 23 July
HELSINKI (FIBA U20 European Championship 2016) – The Semi-Finals headline a super Saturday of FIBA U20 European Championship action in Helsinki, Finland. Here are all the games to look forward to.
Watch all of the action live on FIBA’s YouTube channel.
Follow the action live throughout the day on the FIBA U20 European Championship live feed.
SEMI-FINALS
Germany are into their first Semi-Final at European youth level in 30 years and face a Spanish team that found their shooting touch against Latvia. The battle in the backcourt could be fascinating, with Kostja Mushidi set to go head-to-head with Marc Garcia.
Turkey have looked more impressive with every passing game, and this began with a dominant victory against Lithuania on the opening day. However, Lithuania are a different animal now, having recovered from the loss of Martynas Varnas and found their offensive rhythm.
CLASSIFICATION 5-8
It would be fair to say that both these teams failed to show their best in the Quarter-Finals, and that could serve as a motivating factor as they fight for fifth position.
Rihards Lomazs’ 31-point performance was not enough to lift Latvia to the last four. Understandably, the guard looked dejected at the buzzer, but his team will likely look to him to lead once more. Just two points separated these teams after overtime when they met in the Group Phase.
CLASSIFICATION 9-12
A comfortable victory against France secured the reigning champions’ top-flight status, and they will hope it provides the springboard for further improved performances.
Against Belgium, Israel were back to the assured side of the opening two days, but they will have their work cut out facing Sweden, who will be on a high after easing past Hungary.
CLASSIFICATION 13-16
When these teams played out a Group B thriller, few would have predicted that one of them would drop to Division B, but that is now the case. The hosts, who will still be cheered on by wild home support, must find a way to improve on the 22% field-goal shooting of their previous outing.
Hungary’s search for a first win goes on and they must overcome Belgium, if they are to remain in the top-flight. Thomas Akyazili scored 23 points against Israel on Friday, and could be the danger man once more.
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