Israel U16 defeated 101:62 by Spain, will face Germany in Round of 16
The Israel U16 national team suffered a defeat in its final European Championship group stage match, finishing in second place. Liam Danieli and Maor Sela led the scoring with 11 points each.
The Israel cadet national team (U16) lost 101:62 to Spain this evening (Sunday) in its final group stage game of the European Championship. The Spaniards started strong, closing the first quarter with a 12:30 lead. From there, the game proceeded with Spain steadily increasing its advantage. The match ended 101:62 in favor of Spain, which secured first place in Group C. Israel, finishing in second place, will face Germany—the third-place team from Group D—in the Round of 16 (Tuesday, live on Sport 5).
Maor Sela opened the scoring with a three-pointer for Israel, but the Spaniards responded with a 12:0 run that forced head coach Guy Kaplan to call a timeout. Spain dominated the opening quarter, largely due to a stifling defense that held Israel to just 5 points in the first 6:24 minutes.
Points from Yanai Lachmanovich and Ori Frishman provided a brief spark, but the Spaniards finished the first quarter leading 12:30. The pace slowed in the second quarter, with Israel scoring primarily from the free-throw line. Maor Sela finished a fast break to cut the deficit to 15, but Spain responded with a 7:2 run to extend the lead to 20 points (41:21). Ido Ziv hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to make it 50:28.
The trend continued in the second half, as the Israeli offense struggled against Spain's physical play. The gap surpassed 30 points, standing at 33:66 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. Despite solid efforts from Danieli and Sela, Spain raced to a 42-point lead (40:82) after 30 minutes. While Sela and Lachmanovich managed to trim the deficit slightly in the final frame, Spain cruised to a 101:62 victory.
Israel individual stats:
Liam Danieli and Maor Sela (2 blocks) — 11 points each, Yanai Lachmanovich (3 assists and 2 steals) — 10 points, Nitzan Klein (6 rebounds) — 6 points, Rotem Ben David — 5 points, Ido Ziv, Ilai Saroya, and Omer Solomon — 4 points each, Omer Zvi and Ori Frishman — 3 points each, Itay Kedem — 1 point.
