LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Slovenia took another step in creating new youth basketball heroes by reaching the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 - the country's greatest result in the competition's history.
Slovenia battled past Israel 79-55 in the Quarter-Finals in Lausanne thanks to Zak Smrekar collecting 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and Urban Kroflic chipped in 13 points.
Slovenia are making their third appearance in the U19 World Cup and took seventh place in 2003 and ninth in 2023. Slovenia also took seventh place at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022.
The game was tight for the first 15 minutes of the game with seven lead changes until Slovenia went on a 17-3 run over the final 4 minutes to lead 38-28 at the break.
The Slovenian pushed continued in the second half and the advantage grew to 15 points early in the third quarter. The Balkan side kept the foot on the gas and the lead extended to 21 points at the start of the fourth quarter. Israel never threatened after that.
Our chemistry is just unmatched
"This is crazy. It doesn't feel real. Our chemistry is just unmatched. That is what got us the win. Now we keep going," Smrekar said. "It means a lot. You can see that on our faces but the work is not finished yet."
Slovenia's defense stood strong, holding Israel to just 55 points - 34.3 points fewer than their average of 89.3 points per game. Slovenia limited Omer Mayer to just 9 points after the Israeli guard had scored 33 points against Cameroon in the Round of 16.
Slovenia will now face the winner between Germany and Australia in the Semis.
FIBA