Round of 16 pairings set, as Croatia punish Spain

CHEMNITZ (FIBA U20 European Championship 2018) – The pairings for the FIBA U20 European Championship 2018 Round of 16 were set on Monday, with Lithuania, Croatia, Germany and Serbia locking in number one seeds ahead of the knock-out stage.

Having only regained their place in Division A last year, Croatia registered their third win in a row in Chemnitz after outlasting Spain 85-70 in a close-fought battle for the Group B crown.

Toni Perkovic pushed the Croatian side towards the win with a game-high 21 points, while Mate Kalajzic contributed with 17 points, as Croatia pulled away from Spain in the fourth quarter after an intense tug of war that took place in the first three periods.

Karlo Uljarevic scored 12 points, as Croatia continued a dominant tournament

"Nobody expected us to win three games in three days, but this is just a start for us. We are already looking at the Round of 16 and that's it. We know that we are a good team. And we must prove that that we are a great one," team captain Karlo Uljarevic told FIBA.basketball after the contest.

The result saw Spain drop all the way to fourth place in the standings, which pits them against Group A winners Lithuania in the Round of 16. The Baltic side finished their Group Phase campaign with an 85-74 win over Great Britain, as big man Gytis Masiulis paced them with 22 points.

Masiulis catching the defense off guard! #FIBAU20Europe @musukrepsinis 🇱🇹

📺 https://t.co/8RT8k0qQ4N pic.twitter.com/z7v3S9SrHH
— FIBA #Basketball (@FIBA) July 16, 2018

Meanwhile, Serbia secured the top spot in Group D by running away from the Elijah Clarance-led Sweden in the second half to move their record to 3-0 with an 88-67 victory behind a near double-double by Novak Music, who had 16 points and 9 assists.

Borisa Simanic also collected 16 points for Serbia, while the top scorer duties of the game belonged to Sweden frontman Clarance, who finished the contest with 27 points.

Romania went toe-to-toe with Germany for three-and-a-half quarters

Tournament hosts Germany also wrapped up the Group Phase on a high note, scoring an 86-70 victory over Romania in Group C, with coach Alan Ibrahimagic spreading the playing time around in a game that couldn't change anything in the table.

There were also momentous wins for France and Israel, who secured second seeds for the Round of 16. Their maiden win, a 66-63 triumph over Ukraine, was enough to take France to second place in Group B, while Israel moved up in the Group C standings after routing Greece 106-84 in a rematch of last year's title clash.

Elsewhere, Turkey inscribed an 89-60 win over Montenegro to also finish second in Group A, while Italy demolished Iceland 81-56 to follow suit in Group D.

Round of 16 pairings