High hoops in Israeli men’s U19 World Cup debut
Last week in Switzerland, Israel made the quarter-finals of their debut FIBA U19 Men's Basketball World Cup.
Barely a week after two Israelis were NBA Draft picks by the Brooklyn Nets, the future of Israeli basketball received another major boost when Israel placed an impressive seventh on debut in the FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup, out of 16 competing nations, in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Their squad’s players were also among the tournament’s best, with Omer Mayer ranked equal second in the tournament for average points per game (20.0) with Dominican Republic’s Lucas Morilla, while Oren Sahar was fifth-best (17.7).
Ariel Sela made the tournament’s third most rebounds (67), his teammate Rany Belaga was 10th-best (44), while Sela also had the fifth-highest average steals per game (2.3).
Israel enjoyed two wins over the host nation (102-77 and 79-68), outlasted the Dominican Republic 80-76, won by forfeit against Jordan, and qualified for the quarter-finals with a come-from-behind 86-82 triumph against Cameroon.
In that game, Mayer stole the show with magnificent stats of 33 points, including five 3-pointers, seven assists and five rebounds.
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