Spain and Serbia clash for U20 Gold

Spain and SerbiaSpain and Serbia will compete the final of the 2015 FIBA U20 European Championship as both nations progressed from the semi-finals. It is a fitting showpiece game as both Spain and Serbia has reached this stage with unbeaten records, while both nations are perennial competitors in the latter stages of the competition.

Spain finished as runner-up in 2014 and was last champion in 2011. The country has made at least the semi-finals for the last eight seasons and is chasing its second title. As for Serbia, the country is the winningest in the history of the U20 Europeans with 4 wins, but is without a success since 2008.

Serbia vs. Turkey, 81-58
Serbia eased past reigning champions Turkey in an impressive display to stay 100% through the tournament so far. Turkey’s title defence was stopped by a blazing first half display from Serbia, who spanned the first and second quarters with an 18-0 run that cut Turkey out of the scoreboard for eight minutes. Serbia led 37-25 through halftime and controlled proceedings in the second half on the way to a cruising win. The winners dictated the hardwood in the second half and stopped Turkey from scoring on the break, with just three points arriving from Turkish fast runs.

Serbia was collectively strong, something that has characterised their progress in the tournament. Marko Guduric topped the scoring with 21 points, followed by Ognjen Jaramaz with 14 points, Nikola Rebic with 12 points, and Marko Tejic with 11 points. Serbia shared rebounds, with five players securing 5 or more boards.

Berk Ugurlu led an outclassed Turkey with 12 points, while Kartal Ozmizrak scored 11 points and Emircan Koust added 10 points.

Spain vs. France, 70-61
Spain had a tougher test against a tricky France, but still emerged with a win and will now play Serbia for Gold in Sunday’s final. While France certainly made it hard in the second half, Spain actually held dominance over the scoreboard for the entire game, taking the lead from the first tip off and never looking back. Indeed, Spain led by as much as 18 points, but with 3:41 remaining on the clock France had reduced it to 61-58 and were on the verge of a huge comeback. However, the Spanish players regrouped from a time out and managed to pull away again and close out the win.

Alberto Albalde scored 18 points for Spain, Juancho Hernangomez added 17 points and 6 rebounds. Ilimane Diop added 10 points to the victory.

Arthur Rozenfeld was the best bucket grabber in the game with 19 points, while Timothe Luwauwu managed 12 points and 9 rebounds.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.