Montenegro reach first-ever Semi-Final, get date with Serbia; France will face Croatia

PODGORICA (FIBA U16 European Championship 2017) - Hosts Montenegro advanced to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA U16 European Championship for the first time in history and set up a date with Serbia while France take on Croatia in the other Semi-Final.

Stefan Vlahovic heard chants of "M-V-P" as he poured in 21 points while captain Jovan Kljajic fought off a hip injury to score 21 points as Montenegro knocked off Lithuania 80-74 for their best-ever showing in the age category and book their first-ever ticket to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup next year.

Bojan Tomasevic and Viktor Vujisic both added 12 points and nine rebounds in helping Montenegro pull away in the third quarter and hold on in the final frame. Lithuania got 21 points from Lukas Kreismontas while Marek Blazevic had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. 

Montenegro's reward for beating Lithuania is a showdown with rivals Serbia. The Serbians returned to the Semi-Finals for the first time since 2013 with a strong 82-73 victory over rivals Spain. The result was not as close as the final score indicated as Serbia led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter. Stevan Karapandzic led the way with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Aleksandar Langovic had 10 points and 9 rebounds. But Serbia also got excellent contributions from a number of role players to get the win, which secured them a spot in the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup for the first time since 2014. 

Golden Dike did all he could to help Spain win with 20 points and 15 rebounds as well as making 8-of-18 free throws. But Jaime Pradilla, Spain's leading scorer coming into the game, was held basket-less with just one point. Spain still have a chance to reach the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup as they move into the Classification 5-8 but must finish fifth. Next up is Lithuania.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Croatia continued their improbable run by coming back from 12 points to beat Latvia 71-69 thanks to Matej Rudan collecting 22 points and 8 rebounds and Viktor Saric adding 18 points and 9 rebounds. Croatia are back into the Semi-Finals after reaching the last four last year before losing to Lithuania and finishing fourth.

Latvia, who got 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists from Ojars Berzins, were leading by as many as 12 points early in the second half but once Croatia grabbed the lead early in the fourth quarter they never gave it up - pushing the advantage out to 10 points midway through the final period.

Croatia's Semi-Finals opponent France are still undefeated in Podgorica - the only team - after an 80-76 win over Turkey. The French led almost the entire game and had a 16-point lead before Turkey fought back to make it close in the closing minutes. But Theo Maledon collected 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and Killian Hayes had 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as France won yet again. Turkey could not take advantage of Arda Cete scoring 26 points and Omer Kucuk had 17 points in the loss. Turkey now face Latvia in the Classification 5-8 with hopes of still grabbing a ticket to the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018. 

In the Classification 9-16, Slovenia, Estonia, Israel and Italy all secured their spots in Division A next summer with victories. Ziga Samar scored 17 points as Slovenia beat Russia 78-54; while Estonia charged back from a 15-point third quarter deficit to beat Germany 68-61 thanks to 20 points from Kerr Kriisa. Germany wasted a 20-point showing from Timo Lanmuller and now must grab two wins to avoid relegation. Israel got 21 points, 16 rebounds and 7 assists from Deni Avdija in a 74-66 win over Sweden; with Italy finishing off the Classification 9-16 action with a 65-49 win over Finland as Nico Mannion had 18 points.

You can follow how the day's play unfolded on Live Updates, and check out full replays on YouTube.com/FIBA.

FIBA