Youth national team completes huge comeback against Greece at European Championship
After the pro-Palestinian demonstration that greeted Israel's youth players in Italy, the national team began its journey today (Saturday) at the European Championship with a dramatic 93:84 victory over Greece at the arena in Rovereto. Israel will face France tomorrow (19:00) in Trento, and on Monday (14:00) will return to Rovereto to play against Austria in the final round of Group A.
After the pro-Palestinian demonstration that greeted Israel's youth players in Italy, the national team began its journey today (Saturday) at the European Championship with a dramatic 93:84 victory over Greece at the arena in Rovereto. Tomorrow (19:00) Israel will face France in Trento, and on Monday (14:00) will return to Rovereto to play against Austria in the final round of Group A. Depending on its position, the team will know its opponent (from Group B) for the round of 16 on Wednesday.
The Greeks started excellently and led 19:7, but Nadav Zilberstein's players responded well. Aviv Aronov narrowed the gap to 20:23 by the end of the first quarter, and the promising David Moussiss turned the score around in the second quarter with a three-pointer and a dunk. Greece still finished the half with a 44:43 lead, but Amitai Azriel and Moussiss started the third quarter strong, putting Israel ahead 57:50 and finishing the quarter at 60:54.
The Israeli offense stalled for almost five minutes without a field goal during the final quarter. The Greeks punished the turnovers and went up 72:65, before Aronov hit a three-pointer that gave renewed hope. Israel missed the next three shots, Moussiss turned the ball over, and Greece increased the lead to 77:68 with a little over a minute and a half left. Then came a 7:0 run in 40 seconds, including three-pointers by Moussiss and Aronov that narrowed the score to 75:77. In the final play, after two misses, 16-year-old Rom Stoller, the youngest player on the team, equalized at the buzzer and drew a foul, but missed from the line, sending the game to overtime at 77:77.
Despite the missed free throw, the momentum was entirely Israel's, and the run continued to 17:0 thanks to Aronov and Stoller. The defense worked great, forcing the Greeks into difficult shots and holding them to just one free throw for four minutes in overtime, until a three-pointer by Angelos Zopas arrived. This did not prevent an Israeli victory of 93:84, with a significant 57:44 advantage in rebounds.
Scoring for Israel: Aviv Aronov 30 points (6 assists), David Moussiss 26 (4 of 8 from three, 19 rebounds and 3 blocks), Rom Stoller 11, Oren Trushkin 10 (7 rebounds), Lior Hershko 9, Amitai Azriel 7 (8 assists). Omri Orland, Noam Eckstein, Arbel Lachmanovich, and Ilay Agami also participated in the match.
