HERAKLION (Greece) - Italy secured a long-awaited FIBA U20 EuroBasket title after defeating Lithuania 83-66 in an exciting Final in Heraklion.
France, who entered the event as back-to-back reigning champs, once again returned to the podium by claiming third place. Meanwhile, Iceland are the last team to be relegated to Division B, losing to Germany in the battle for the 13th place and thus joining Finland and Ukraine.
Key Storylines
Italy proved to be the toughest when most needed; beating Lithuania to claim the title;
France once again got on the podium with a success over Serbia in the battle for third;
Germany beat Iceland to send them to Division B and save themselves.
Final
Italy came into the Final in Heraklion with hopes of adding yet another title to their collection and managed to end a 12-year wait with a triumph over Lithuania.
Their stellar defense proved to be the difference in the first half that saw the champions build their 16-point lead. Italy moved inch by inch, never going on a run bigger than 6-0, but separating themselves with every passing minute of the first half. Lithuania was held to just nine points in the second quarter and it was already 42-26 at the midpoint.
However, a different kind of Lithuania came out of the dressing rooms at the half - a big 15-4 run ensued to cut the lead back to only five in only five minutes of play in the third quarter. Italy were maybe shaken, but never lost their composure so they had an answer prepared to hit back and enter the final five minutes of the tournament with a 15-point advantage.
Lithuania had not given up so they came back into the single-digit deficit, but there was simply not enough time for them to stage that big a comeback.
Italy were able to celebrate the title led by tournament MVP Francesco Ferrari who tallied 26 points and knocked down a couple of crucial three-pointers to knot the game. Elisee Assui added 17 with 9 rebounds, whereas Aleksas Bieliauskas' monster double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds going in vain.
Third Place Game
France took revenge on Serbia for a defeat in the Group Phase to grab an important victory to win the battle for third place, 73-62.
Serbia had scored only 22 points in the second and third quarter combined, while France collected 36 in the meantime to build themselves a nice lead. It was an 18-point advantage for France at one point in the final stanza, but Serbia managed to make the final result more manageable with
Petar Majstorovic led his team to a podium spot with 15 points and 7 rebounds, sinking 3 three-pointers in the process. Amael L'Etang added 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, whereas Lazar Gacic and Pavle Nikolic tallied 16 points apiece.
Top Performers
Alvaro Folgueiras flirted with a triple-double with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 9 assists, albeit in a 77-75 loss to Slovenia that saw Spain take eighth place at the event. Nevertheless, an efficiency of 46 is not only the highest of the day, but a tournament-high by some distance.
Greece's Neoklis Avdalas stole the show in a 92-82 success over Israel with a triple-double, a rare FIBA U20 EuroBasket feat that was last seen in 2019. Avdalas scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 14 assists to leave a historic mark. 14 dimes is also the tournament-high.
Avdalas' teammate Alexandros Samodurov also had himself quite a performance in that very same game. Leading the scorers with 25 points, also throwing 5 rebounds and 4 assists to the pile, he recorded an efficiency rating of 31, matching his triple-double hero compatriot.
Even though Ukraine knew they were relegated the day before and took the last place at the event with a 84-82 loss to Finland, Luka Lokhmanchuk went out with a bang of 25 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for an efficiency of 26 and a spot in the Top Performers lineup.
Czechia beat Poland 94-81 in the Classification 9-10 Game as they were led by Frantisek Suchanek who dominated in the pain. A 15-point, 10-rebound double-double for the big man who also blocked 1 opponents' shot for an efficiency of 25.
Results of the Day
Final
Italy 83-66 Lithuania
Third Place Game
Serbia 62-73 France
Classification 5-6
Israel 82-92 Greece
Classification 7-8
Spain 75-77 Slovenia
Classification 9-10
Czechia 94-81 Poland
Classification 11-12
Romania 66-58 Belgium
Classification 13-14
Iceland 56-63 Germany
Classification 15-16
Ukraine 82-84 Finland
FIBA