Germany win thriller over Sweden as Semi-Finals lineup is confirmed

SOFIA (Bulgaria) - Four teams, Belgium, Germany, hosts Bulgaria and Finland, have punched their tickets to the Semi-Finals at the FIBA U16 European Championship, Division B, as promotions are up for grabs.

In the game of the day, Germany came back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to take down Sweden 88-86. Germany got outscored in the first three quarters until they won the fourth quarter 27-17 and went on a 20-8 run in the final five minutes to seal their come-from-behind victory.

Christian Anderson led Germany with 25 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on 9-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point, while Eric Reibe nearly missed a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

Sweden's leading scorer in this tournament, Julius Price, did all he could with 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.

Belgium and Bulgaria handled their Quarter-Final matchups with ease, defeating Iceland and Austria 107-59 and 96-71, respectively.

Belgium actually trailed 19-15 after the first quarter, but a huge 46-19 second quarter with eight made threes busted the game wide open.

Terence Kekenbosch led Belgium with 25 points and shot 7-of-11 from three-point range, making more threes than Iceland did as a team (5). Belgium had an astounding +31 turnover margin and scored 55 points from turnovers.

Hosts Bulgaria remained unbeaten and put on a dominant wire-to-wire performance over Austria. Bulgaria opened up with a 30-5 first quarter to put the game out of reach early.

Four players scored at least 17 points for Bulgaria led by Alexander Jilev who recorded a double-double with 20 points, 13 rebounds along with 2 assists and 2 steals.

The final Quarter-Final game of the day between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland saw Finland come through victorious, 75-65. Finland trailed 52-44 after three quarters but used a 31-13 final quarter to complete the comeback.

Olavi Suutela recorded a big double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds, while Elmeri Abbey led all scorers with 19 points along with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 steals.

In the 9-16 Classification Games, Switzerland breezed past Hungary 81-56, Portugal beat Romania 66-56 after trailing by seven after the first quarter, Georgia took care of Czech Republic 87-65 behind Nikoloz Abuladze's near triple-double of 30 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, and Great Britain defeated Ukraine 66-58.

Meanwhile, in the 17-22 Classification Groups, Luxembourg snuck by Cyprus 60-56 in Group E and Norway triumphed over Ireland in wire-to-wire fashion, 71-55, in Group F.

The Semi-Finals will take place on Friday with the winners earning a promotion to Division A next summer.

Semi-Finals (Friday, August 19):

Belgium v Germany
Bulgaria v Finland

FIBA