2024-07-23 05:29:10
The national team of Bulgaria took ninth place in the final ranking of the European basketball championship for men under 20 years old in the “B” division, which was held in the Romanian city of Pitesti.
In their last match of the tournament, the basketball players of head coach Vasil Hristov won 71:60 over Croatia in the match for ninth and tenth place. Thus, the Bulgarian team took a worthy revenge in the final phase of the tournament, winning all three of their matches, after in the group phase they achieved only one victory in four matches and did not get the opportunity to play for promotion to the “A” division.
By halftime, the game was basket-for-basket, with the two teams trading leads frequently. However, Bulgaria managed to open a 14-point lead at the end of the third quarter after a 19:4 run.
At the start of the final ten minutes, Croatia scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to seven points at 50:57. The difference even dropped to two points at 58:60 with more than three minutes remaining, but a three-pointer by Krastomir Mihov restored calm in the Bulgarian camp. Until the end, Croatia failed to put the Bulgarians under more pressure and the national team congratulated themselves with a well-deserved victory.
Most useful for the success was Iliyan Pishchikov with 20 points. Krasimir Petrov added 11 more points.
For Croatia, Ivan Bogdanovic topped everyone with 24 points. Ivan Negovan added 15 more points.
Later today is the final in the division, in which the hosts from Romania and Ukraine are rivals. Both teams have “A” division quotas.