U18 Men’s Games: Sunday 18 December
SAMSUN (FIBA U18 European Championship 2016) – It all comes down to the final day of the Group Phase at the FIBA U18 European Championship as only two teams are eliminated from reaching the Quarter-Finals
SAMSUN (FIBA U18 European Championship 2016) – It all comes down to the final day of the Group Phase at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2016 as only two teams are eliminated from reaching the Quarter-Finals with all four nations in three of the groups still alive.
Watch all of the action live on FIBA’s YouTube channel.
Follow the action live throughout the day on the FIBA U18 European Championship live feed.
Israel would love to finally be the heartbreaker instead of the heartbroken in Group C as they can still sneak into the Quarter-Finals with a victory over Lithuania despite an overtime loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina and a last-second defeat against Latvia. Lithuania are guaranteed a final eight spot if they win as they look to rebound from a tough loss against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Slovenia are not out of the Quarter-Finals race yet despite two losses as a victory over Russia and a Serbia defeat against France would force a three-way tie at 1-2. Russia look to build upon their surprising blowout of Serbia and would guarantee a berth in the final eight with a victory. Even a loss could be enough to advance.
Sweden and Croatia are the only two teams eliminated from Quarter-Finals contention as they are both 0-2 in Group A behind undefeated Spain and Italy. The winner of this game will finish third in the group and the loser fourth with them crossing with the bottom two teams from Group B in the Classification 9-16 games.
France look to remain undefeated and build upon a convincing 31-point blowout of Slovenia to knock off Serbia and claim the top spot in Group D. The Serbs must rebound from their embarrassing 27-point loss against Russia and beat the French to even have a chance to move to the Quarter-Finals. A victory by at least 16 points guarantees them a top eight spot while a straight-up win over France would be enough if Slovenia knock off Russia.
Turkey face the tough task of trying to slow down the Germany express train as the hosts fight for their chances for the Quarter-Finals. Not even a victory is enough to guarantee a spot in the last eight but a loss could be enough to see them into the knockout round. Germany showed their strength, depth and character in fending off a tough Greece effort in remaining undefeated at 2-0. A victory will move them into the Quarter-Finals as Group B winners and even a loss would likely be enough thanks to their blowout win over Finland.
With a 1-1 record and a win over Turkey, Finland are still right on course to reach the Quarter-Finals if they can beat Greece. A win alone might not be enough as Turkey could sneak pass them into the last eight if they beat Germany after the Finns were blown out by the Germans - an unwelcoming result in a possible three-way tie with Turkey and Germany. Greece are winless and must beat Finland and hope that Germany knock off the Turks.
Spain v Italy is the most clear-cut game of Day 3, pitting two 2-0 teams who are already into the Quarter-Finals from Group A. Whoever wins the game wins the group with the loser taking second place.
Latvia v Bosnia and Herzegovina
Latvia's last second win over Israel kept alive their Quarter-Finals dreams from Group C. A victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina will not guarantee them a spot in the last eight but it would make their chances quite high regardless of what happens between Lithuania and Israel. Bosnia and Herzegovina have a 2-0 record and will take the top spot in the group with a victory. Even a tight loss should be enough to advance.
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