Four left standing at U16 European Championship

KAUNAS (2015 U16 European Championship) - There were several standout individual performances in Kaunas, Lithuania on Friday as the U16 European Championship Quarter-Finals set the stage for Final Four ties with significant recent history.

The hosts booked their place in the Saturday's Semi-Finals with a 93-74 victory against Finland as they shot the ball brilliantly from inside and out, and were inspired by the emotion and energy of Vitalijus Kozys, who had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Lithuania were beaten by Turkey in the Second Round but will get an opportunity to avenge that loss after Onuralp Bitim and Ahmet Duran combined for 50 points in an 87-66 Quarter-Final win over Serbia.

Spain overcame rivals France, 72-63, in their Last Eight tie thanks to 25 points from Miguel Gonzalez, who displayed his full offensive range in a fine all-round performance.

They will meet Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team that beat them to gold at the recent European Youth Olympic Festival in Tblisi, Georgia.

Dzanan Musa was once again the driving force behind the Bosnians, narrowly missing out on a triple-double as he went for 25 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in a 70-54 Quarter-Final success against Germany.

Victories on Friday also meant that Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and Turkey secured their place in next year's FIBA U17 World Championship, with Spain already qualified as hosts.

The beaten quarter-finalists get another chance to punch their ticket to Spain on Saturday, with the teams that finish in fifth and sixth position also qualifying.

In the Classification Round, Italy, Latvia, Croatia and Montenegro secured their places in Division A for 2016.

Montenegro advanced to the competition for ninth position by virtue of a default 20-0 victory against the suspended Russia.

Croatia had to work much harder for their top-flight survival, however, closing their contest with Israel on an 8-2 run to triumph 84-82.

Arturs Kurucs was the hero for Latvia, coming up with the decisive basket with 43 seconds remaining to down England 66-65.

And Italy cruised to a 62-45 defeat of Greece after holding their opponents to just nine points in the first half.

Friday's beaten teams will have another chance to retain top-flight status, but must win both of their remaining games.

Go to http://u16men.fibaeurope.com/en/default.asp for full coverage of the 2015 U16 European Championship.

FIBA