SKOPJE (North Macedonia) - Poland captured the FIBA U16 EuroBasket, Division B title with a thrilling 68-67 win over Belgium in the Final.
With both Finalists securing promotion, there was one ticket left, which eventually fell to Czechia, who bested Portugal in the Third Place Game.
In a battle of the unbeaten teams in Division B, Poland secured the win thanks to decisive free throws from Szymon Lata with 1.7 seconds remaining. Aaron Ona Embo had a chance at glory for Belgium, but his effort missed its mark.
Belgium led for the majority of the first half, but never really got away from their counterparts in a physical encounter. You sensed that Poland had a comeback in them; it was a question of when.
That came in the early stages of the third quarter, when Poland took the lead nearly four minutes in. However, Belgium came back and retook the lead at 47-43 with less than a minute to play, thanks to a dunk from Tom Kasongo, but Poland fought back again and held a slender 49-47 advantage heading into the fourth.
As both teams traded runs and leads in the final quarter, it went down to the final seconds, and Lata sealed it with ice in his veins at the line. Antoni Majcherek led the victors with 17 points and 6 assists, while Dylan Havyarimana had 16 for the runners-up.
In the Third Place Game, Czechia defeated Portugal 85-67 to secure a spot on the podium and earn promotion to Division A next summer.
A high-scoring first quarter saw Czechia lead 30-23, and from there, they were locked in for the entire game, holding their opponents to just 32 percent from the field, including a 0-of-27 mark from three-point range. However, Portugal was also a victim of its own downfall, going 15-for-26 from the free-throw line.
Conversely, the Czechs, who shot 41 percent from the floor, hit eight three-pointers and went 13-for-19 from the stripe, which made the difference. Matej Buben filled the statsheet with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks to lead the winners.
Sebastiao Faro led all scorers in vain for Portugal with 26 points, 2 steals, and 2 blocks, but the team had to settle for fourth place.
Final
Belgium 67-68 Poland
Third Place Game
Portugal 67-85 Czechia
FIBA