Greece’s youth are officially in the final four of FIBA U16 EuroBasket after beating Turkey 75-65 in the quarter-finals at the Nea Alikarnassos Arena in Heraklion, Crete.
The contest was fiercely contested in the opening two quarters, with the score reading 16-16 after the first and 37-34 after the second in favour of Turkey.
The Greek youngsters emerged from the breaker the stronger outfit and had a dominant third quarter wherein they took charge of the clash, scoring 20 points to Turkey’s 8 so that the scoreline read 54-45.
The final quarter played out similarly to the opening two as Greece managed 21 points to their opponents’ 20, thus sealing a vital 75-65 victory to continue their strong showing as the host nation of the tournament.
Alexandros Tsonis and Chrysostomos Chatzilambrou starred for Greece’s U16 side, scoring 18 points each with Tsonis managed 3/3 three-pointers, six assists and four rebounds.
Chatzilambrou also collected nine rebounds, all defensive, while Ilias Chairdemenos (11 points) and Vassilis Chartonas (10 points) also got into double figures.
Turkey were weakened with the absence of Omer Kutluay, the son of former AEK, Panathinaikos and PAOK basketballer Ibrahim Kutluay, who had an incredible performance in their previous game (24 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists).
Greece’s U16s will now face Spain on Saturday morning (AEST) for a place in the final, while the other semi-final will see France battle Serbia.
