A Humiliation to Remember: Young Serbian Basketball Players Drowned by 40 Points
Serbia's U16 national team suffered a real debacle in the Round of 16 in Romania, where Latvia literally steamrolled them 99:59.
Serbia's U16 national team suffered a real debacle in the Round of 16 in Romania, where Latvia literally steamrolled them 99:59.
Serbia's cadet basketball team suffered one of the heaviest defeats in their history at the EuroBasket in Romania. In the Round of 16 for players under 16, Latvia simply humiliated them, winning by an incredible 40-point margin, 99:59, and sending them home.
After just the first ten minutes of play, it was clear that Serbia had no chance. Latvia won the first quarter by 11 points (23:12), and at halftime the lead had grown to 12 (45:33). But the real shock came in the second half.
The third period was a complete collapse of Serbia's game. The Latvian players scored 25 points in those ten minutes, while Serbia managed only nine. The lead grew rapidly, and the question of the winner was settled. By the end of the game, only one question remained: what would the final margin be?
In the end, the scoreboard showed a brutal 99:59. Serbia's cadets thus bid farewell to the EuroBasket in the worst possible way, left "frozen" at minus 40.
The debacle in the Round of 16 was just a continuation of poor performances from the group stage. Serbia lost all three games in their group, against Lithuania, hosts Romania, and Poland. As the last-placed team, they faced Latvia in the Round of 16, which had gone through their group undefeated (3-0) and were the clear favorites.
With this performance, the young Serbian national team players are now in serious danger. They face a battle for survival in the elite A Division, and based on what was seen on the court, relegation would not be a surprise.
In the winning team, Markuss Jahovics was the top scorer with 21 points. He was followed by Kristians Martinsons with 15, while Markuss Aleksandrovs added 14 points. For Serbia, only two players managed to reach double figures: Luka Panić scored 13, and Filip Mrđen added 10.
