No trouble for Group winners, Semi-Finals pairings all set

CHALKIDA (FIBA U20 European Championship 2016 Division B) - Four group winners reached the Semi-Finals and will now fight for promotion to Division A. Greece will play Iceland, Croatia face Montenegro.

Montenegro played amazing defence when it mattered most in the Quarter-Final. They held Poland scoreless for five minutes at the beginning of the final period, running out from a 47-45 lead to a 53-45 buffer. Polish offensive struggles continued, only managing 6 points throughout the whole quarter, and Montenegro eased to a 63-51 win.

Montenegro dominated inside, scoring 38 points in the paint, compared to just 16 for Poland. Easy buckets were also the reason why Montenegro finished with 58.3 percent shooting from two-point range, but they will need to work on their free throws (9-of-23) ahead of a Semi-Final duel with Croatia.

Petar Popovic played all 40 minutes, scoring a game-high 16 points. Aleksa Ilic added 9 points and 15 rebounds, while also blocking 5 Polish shots and dishing out 3 assists. Ilic, however, shot only 1-of-6 from the line. Bartosz Jankowski finished with 14 points for Poland.

Montenegro's Semi-Final opponent will be Croatia. The Croats broke away in the third quarter against Great Britain, building their advantage to 17 points just before the final stanza. The lead was as big as 24, but the British players managed to soften the defeat to a final score of 69-53.

Goran Filipovic and Luka Bozic combined for 30 points, and had great help from Ivan Karacic and Lovro Mazalin who added 26 more. Karacic also had 15 rebounds and 6 steals. Joshua Steel and Jules Dang Akodo had 12 points apiece for Great Britain.

The other Semi-Final will be between Greece and Iceland. Tournament hosts Greece were down by as many as eight points at the beginning of their Quarter-Final against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but dominant second and third quarters saw them break down Bosnia and Herzegovina in a 77-51 win.

Vasileios Charalampopoulos was once again the man of the match. His 23 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals were all team-highs for Greece. Thomas Kottas added 18 points. Markus Loncar and Kenan Karahodzic each had 14 for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Iceland were the most impressive of the Quarter-Finalists. A 29-5 first quarter paved the way to a 94-54 win over Georgia as six players finished in double digits for the Group B winners. Hjalmar Stefansson and Kristinn Palsson had 15 points for the Icelanders, whilst Maizer Revazashvili had 14 points in defeat.

All of the Semi-Finalists need just one more win to earn a trip to Division A. The first three teams of the Division B will be promoted. 

In the Classification Games for 9th to 16th place, Portugal defeated Belarus 75-74, while Romania enjoyed a 71-54 win over the Netherlands. Russia defeated the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 92-59, and Ireland held off Slovak Republic 77-70.

FIBA