Team advances to second phase of competition after finishing second in Group C of the preliminary round.
By ALLON SINAIbasketball 88(photo credit: )
Israel's Under-20 basketball team faces Georgia on Tuesday afternoon in its first game of the quarterfinal group stage of the U20 European Championships, which are being co-hosted by Italy and Slovenia.
The team advanced to the second phase of the competition after finishing second in Group C of the preliminary round, winning two of its three games.
Israel trounced Macedonia 95-65 in its first game of the tournament on Friday, outlasted Croatia 77-64 the following day, and lost 77-73 to Spain on Sunday night.
Maccabi Tel Aviv forward Omri Caspi has starred and is ranked second among all scores, averaging 21.3 points per game.
Guard Yogev Ohayoun of Hapoel Galil Elyon Golan has spent more time on court than any other Israeli (30 mpg) and has averaged 13.7 points and 3.3 assists in three games.
Israel faces Italy and Bulgaria on Wednesday and Thursday respectively in Group F and will likely need to win all three of its games to book its place in the semifinals of the competition.
Only the top two teams in Group F, which besides Israel also includes Spain, Croatia, Italy, Georgia and Bulgaria, will advance to the final four.
Each team will only play the sides they have yet to face in the preliminary round.
Israel is currently second place with one win and one loss behind undefeated Italy and Spain.
both with a 2-0 record.
The results of the games between the teams that faced each other in the preliminary round are taken into account.
