France wins FIBA U16 Euros
U16 European Championships host nation Latvia clashed with France in the final of the competition, but there was to be no fairy-tale on home soil. France has looked imperious throughout the competition and took down Latvia 53-78 to lift its second U16 tournament, after 2004’s success.
The truth of the game is that it went to form. Latvia has looked dogged on route to the final, but France has impressed through the rounds, remaining unbeaten and turning in fantastic displays on the court. For all Latvia’s fight and home support, Les Bleus simply had too much class where it counted, especially around the basket as the French totalled 46 rebounds throughout the encounter.
France surged into the lead, looking slick in attack and using a Frank Ntilikina triple to carve an early 7-14 lead. The French also put in a solid defensive display in the opening minutes, shutting out Latvia more than once, including blocking out two drives from Arturs Strautins. To Latvia’s credit, they fought back as the first period drew to a close, edging the score to 12-14 after ten minutes.
Latvia got to grips with the French offense in the second quarter, but still struggled to break through at the other end. There was evident pressure on the floor, although Les Bleus managed to extend its lead to five points, opening a 16-21 cushion. However, once again Latvia responded during the closing minutes of the frame and Roberts Blumbergs climbed two points to end the half with France leading 22-25.
Rodions Kurucs started the second half with an alley-oop dunk for Latvia, but once again France continued with metronome like play. The French exerted their quality through the middle minutes of the third quarter and opened a double digit lead for the first time, with the score at 32-42. Latvia kept in touch but could not manage to break the French scoring and after 30 minutes on the court France led 43-51.
The difference was eight points at the start of the fourth quarter, but Latvia may have still felt there was hope, especially with the near 1000 strong crowd in Riga backing the players. However, France put on a phenomenal ten minutes and found the kind of touch that had paced the team through the tournament. A 7-0 spurt during the frame killed Latvia off and France romped to victory by winning the last stanza 10-27.
Killan Tillie was outstanding for the French, the best player on the court with a double-double of 25 points and 18 rebounds. Bathiste Tchouaffe followed with 17 points for Les Bleus.
Strautins secured 17 points in the losing effort, while Kristers Zoriks scored 13 points for Latvia.