Serbia down Lithuania, Spain get sweet revenge against Turkey to book date in Final

BRATISLAVA (FIBA U18 European Championship 2017) - After getting their FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 campaigns underway against each other in Piestany, Serbia and Spain will now have the honor of closing the curtain in the gold-medal contest after surviving intense Semi-Finals drama at the Hant Arena in Bratislava.

Serbia punched their ticket to the Final with a close-fought 83-77 victory over Lithuania, with Nikola Miskovic sealing the win with a triumphant leak-out dunk in the closing moments of the duel.

Having been in the driver's seat for most of the games, Serbia found themselves down 70-67 after a late 7-0 run by Lithuania, but did not panic and answered back with an identical stretch to take back the initiative.

Miskovic provided the game-changing presence for Serbia from tip-off right until the final whistle with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while his teammate Andrija Marjanovic also chipped in with 15 points.

Lukas Kisunas double-doubled for Lithuania with 18 points and 13 rebounds, with Arnas Velicka collecting 16 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Revenge is a dish best served cold and Spain took great pleasure in getting payback with a 71-69 win against Turkey, who had denied them a medal at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016 in the Semi-Finals game last summer.

Having trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, Spain showed a lot of heart and character, finally achieving the breakthrough with a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to go up 65-60.

Sergi Martinez was the only Spanish player in double figures with 13 points and 4 rebounds, while Yigitcan Saybir scored 21 points and grabbed 9 boards, but missed the chance to tie the game from the free-throw line.

France and Italy bounced back after Quarter-Finals losses with wins in the Classification Games for 5-8th places, with the French side blowing out the Dimitrios Moraitis-less Greece 81-53 and Italy defeating Bosnia and Herzegovina 77-59 behind a 26-point explosion of Mattio Palumbo, who opened the game by dropping 15 points in the first five minutes.

Russia and Finland will square off in the Classification Game for 9th Place after defeating Germany and Ukraine, respectively. The Russians got back at Germany for the Group Phase loss with a 70-69 win, while Finland topped Ukraine 70-56.

Tournament hosts Slovak Republic became the first team to be sent down to Division B after losing 62-57 to Slovenia with relegation on the line in the Classification Games for 13-16th places. In spite of getting the win, the Slovenes aren't quite out of the woods just yet and will have to battle Montenegro on the final gameday to avoid meeting the same fate.

FIBA