Other events in Baltic States

Latvian U-20 men's national basketball team won silver at the European Basketball Championships in Tallinn on Sunday, informs LETA. In the final game, Latvia was defeated by Italy 60-67 (13-9, 18-14, 11-23, 18-21).

This is the second time that Latvian national basketball team, in any age group, plays in the final of the European Championships. Latvian men's basketball team won the very first European Championships in 1935. Latvia also placed second in 1939 championships that were won by Lithuania, but that time the competition was a single round-robin without playoffs. No other Latvian national team had advanced to EuroBasket finals since then.

Both teams started the match aggressively, but eventually Latvia moved ahead, leading five points halfway through the first quarter, which ended with the score 13-9 for Latvia.

The second quarter continued much in the same vein; three-and-a-half minutes before the end of the first half, Latvia was leading by ten points, and a bit later it got twelve points ahead of Italy, but at the end of the second quarter the score was 31-23.

The third quarter was disastrous for Latvia. The offense was stalling, and the Italians not only pulled equal but eventually moved ahead. At the end of the third quarter, Latvia was four points down already.

In the fourth quarter, Latvia scored eight unanswered points, taking the lead at 52-50, but three-and-a-half minutes before the end of regulation time, it was 53-52 for Italy. A minute later, Italy hit a very important three-pointer and then another one, securing the lead at 61-54 with a minute and 44 seconds to play.

At the end of the match, Italy scored a few more points, while Latvia's three-point attempts were unsuccessful. The final score was 67-60 for Italy.

In the bronze medal game earlier on Sunday, Spain defeated Russia 70-63.