The Israeli U-20 national basketball team lost 89-79 in overtime to France, in the finals of the European Championship on Sunday night, taking home the silver medal.
Noam Yaacov was Israel’s leading scorer of the night with 31 points, with Daniel Wolf chipping in 17 points and Ron Zipper 15 in the final game of the tournament hosted in Greece.
“Huge kudos to our young basketball team for a wonderful tournament, making it to the final of the European Championship,” said Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar. “Our amazing guys put on a great game, and surrendered only in overtime — they deserve every praise!”
National Unity party leader Benny Gantz said the team was “a huge pride to Israeli sports and to the State of Israel.”
It was the sixth-ever trip to the final stage of the competition by the U-20 team, led by coach Elad Hasin.
In the semifinals on Saturday, Israel beat Belgium 67-46, after knocking out Germany 75-64 in the quarterfinals.
The Israeli U-20 national basketball team following their victory over Germany in the quarterfinals of the European Championship in Crete, Greece, July 13, 2023. (FIBA)
Last year, the national team finished in fourth place, after having won the competition in 2019 and 2018, with rosters led by current NBA power forward Deni Avdija of the Washington Wizards and Euroleague guard Yam Madar, who recently signed with Turkish team Fenerbahçe Beko.
France had previously won the tournament in 2010.
While the Israeli U-20 national team’s success in basketball is not unprecedented, it coincides with last month’s surprising results by the U-20 Israeli national soccer team that finished third in the U-20 World Cup, and the Under-21 team’s run to this month’s semifinals of the European Championship.
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