Italy and Slovenia reach U18 Euro final; hosts recover to stun France
Italy's U18 team came from 14 points down to beat France in overtime in the European Championship semifinals, while Slovenia defeated Spain. The hosts will face Slovenia for the title on Sunday.
The FIBA U18 European Championship in Trento and Rovereto, Italy, has its finalists. On Sunday, 2 August, hosts Italy will meet Slovenia for the gold medal, while Spain and France will battle for third place.
In the first semifinal, Italy trailed France for most of the game. France led 63:49 with five and a half minutes left in regulation, but managed only one more point before the end. Italy levelled at 64:64 and forced overtime. France opened the extra period with five straight points, but Italy regained momentum. Edoardo di Meo played a decisive role in the comeback, scoring six points in the final 40 seconds of regulation, including two three-pointers, the second at the buzzer to tie the game. He finished with 22 points. Federico Botelli and Pape Cheikh Niang each added 16 for the victors, with Niang also collecting eight rebounds and five assists.
Italy, champions in 1990, had not reached the gold-medal game since 1992. Slovenia will play in the final for the first time since 2002, when they lost.
In the other semifinal, Slovenia trailed Spain 41:44 at halftime but dominated the second half to win 90:71, despite being outrebounded 36:44. Stefan Joksimović had 26 points and six rebounds in 36 minutes, while Max Ciperle contributed 16 points and seven rebounds. Spain's Diego Njebla was the top scorer of the game with 32 points and seven rebounds.
Slovenia, who beat Latvia 86:76 in the last 16, won the U20 European Championship in Ljubljana in July.
On finals day, Spain and France play at 19:00 for bronze, followed by Italy against Slovenia at 21:30 for the title.
