SKOPJE (North Macedonia) - The final four teams are locked in at the 2024 FIBA U18 EuroBasket, Division B after Bulgaria, Austria, Poland and hosts North Macedonia all won their respective Quarter-Finals.
The most tense game rounded out Friday's action as Bulgaria got off to a great start against Switzerland with their 20-point cushion at half-time looking to be more than enough for a comfortable win.
However, Switzerland began their big comeback in the third and got as close as trailing 76-72 with three minutes to go. Bulgaria managed to hold on for an 84-78 win led by their dynamic duo of Aleksandar Gavalyugov and Deyan Kolev - the former scoring 20 points with 11 assists, as Kolev added 16 points, 11 rebounds and 6 steals.
Meanwhile, two other Quarter-Finals matchups were won in more convincing fashion; hosts North Macedonia dominated early against Portugal and set up the way for an easy 71-42 win powered by Marko Lukanoski's 17-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Austria's stealth defense allowed only 25 first-half points for Czechia and it was a 20-point lead at the break already. The difference continued to grow, and at one point became a 39-point game, but the count stopped at 85-58.
Fynn Schott did a little bit of everything with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks as Nico Zeleznik led the scoring charts with 19 points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
Poland fell into an early five-point deficit in the first quarter, but quickly turned it around for an 82-74 win against Montenegro. Tymoteusz Sternicki was the leading force for the victors with 26 points and 9 rebounds, as Mateusz Orlowski added 14 points and 6 rebounds.
Elsewhere in the 9-16 Classification Games, Ireland cut through the knot late to claim 74-69 success to Georgia, setting the matchup against Hungary who ran over Romania with an 80-62 victory. Iceland and Norway book the northern showdown with their wins against Ukraine - 76-71 - and Slovakia - 75-57 - respectively.
The Semi-Finals will take place on Saturday with the two winning sides already earning promotion to Division A next summer.
Semi-Finals Pairings
Bulgaria vs North Macedonia Poland vs Austria
FIBA