Israel’s Under-20 men’s national team defeated Romania 78–68 to open its European Championship campaign with a victory in Ljubljana. Yonatan Keller starred with 21 points, while Rani Belaga added 14.

Israel’s U20 men’s national team earned a win on Saturday in its opening game of the FIBA U20 European Championship in Ljubljana, defeating Romania. It was far from a flawless performance by Oren Aharoni’s squad, who erased an early deficit with a 9–0 run to close the first quarter and never relinquished the lead.

Israel struggled to establish its trademark fast-paced transition game but asserted its dominance in the paint, winning the rebounding battle 41–30. Romania’s poor shooting also played a major role, as it hit just four three-pointers (15%) and shot only 14-of-25 (56%) from the free-throw line. Yonatan Keller led the way with 21 points, while Rani Belaga contributed 14. Israel will face host Slovenia on Sunday in its second Group D game (7:30 p.m. local time).

Keller scored 21 points, Belaga added 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Oren Sahar and Tamir Gold each put in 11 points in the win.

Belaga got Israel off to a strong start by scoring the team’s first four points, but Romania capitalized on defensive mistakes to take a 12–8 lead. Keller then found his rhythm, scoring seven unanswered points without a miss to cut the deficit to one. Oren Sahar and Tamir Gold came off the bench and made an immediate impact, sparking a 9–0 run that gave Israel a 24–21 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Israel continued attacking inside to open the second quarter, as Gold and Ariel Sela converted Belaga assists into easy baskets. Although the game became somewhat disjointed, Israel took advantage of a three-minute Romanian scoring drought to pull away. Transition points by Sela extended the lead to nine, 37–28, with 3:43 left before halftime. However, Israeli turnovers and soft interior defense allowed Romania to close the gap, and Israel went into halftime leading 43–37.

The second half began with an emphatic sequence from Juul Karam, who threw down a powerful dunk off a pass from Sahar before adding a big block on the defensive end to help preserve Israel’s lead. Belaga became the first Israeli player to reach double figures with one of his trademark drives to the basket. The third quarter, however, lacked rhythm, as both teams looked disorganized. Romania benefited most from the sloppy play, scoring easy baskets inside to trim the deficit to just four points. Keller answered with another 3-pointer to give Israel some breathing room, and the blue-and-white entered the final quarter ahead 59–53.

Keller caught fire early in the fourth, scoring five consecutive points to give Israel its first double-digit lead of the game, 69–58, with 7:20 remaining. Romania refused to quit and after a dunk, cut the margin to 73–66 with 3:21 left, Aharoni called timeout. Romania was unable to capitalize on Israel’s shaky stretch down the stretch as Belaga calmly knocked down two free throws, Romania missed at the other end and Sahar converted a three-point play to seal a 78–68 victory.