Day 2 review: Czech Republic hold off Turkey; Lithuania and Romania stay perfect

ORADEA (FIBA U20 European Championship 2018, Division B) – Czech Republic extended their terrific start of the FIBA U20 European Championship 2018, Division B campaign with their second win on the trot in Group B, as the Ken Scalabroni-coached side held off a late challenge by Turkey and inscribed a 75-69 victory to move atop the table with an unmatched 2-0 record.

Having begun the contest with a 21-8 onslaught, the Czechs pulled away early and led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but were put on the defensive after Ilayda Guner and Turkey mounted a third-quarter comeback and make it a one-possession game at 41-38 with 6:28 left in the third stanza.

Veronika Vorackova flirted with a triple-double

Ultimately, however, Czech Republic were able to hang on, mostly due to the efforts of Lucie Hoskova and Veronika Vorackova. Hoskova netted a team high of 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Vorackova put on a show with 16 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and a pair of steals.

In the other Group B games, Aryna Masko paced Belarus to a 90-70 win over Bulgaria with 24 points and 13 rebounds, as Iceland came away 59-57 winners over Denmark in the Nordic derby that saw the lead change hands 14 times.

Meanwhile, Lithuania and Romania continued to gather momentum in Group A, moving their markers to 2-0 with wins over Israel and Great Britain, respectively. Lithuania followed up a miraculous escape against Ukraine with a 78-73 win over Israel, while the tournament hosts Romania got the better of Great Britain 76-61, as Alina Podar scored 25 points and Irina Parau added 17.

Elsewhere, Nataliia Tsiubyk had a 30-point explosion against Greece, guiding Ukraine to a 71-54 victory that put them on the board in the group table. Kristina Karp double-doubled with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners, while Elena Tsinike collected 17 points and boards for Greece.

FIBA