Israel’s Under-20 national team secured its Division A status on Thursday evening with an impressive 84-59 victory over defending European champions Italy. Israel came well prepared, capitalized on its advantages in the backcourt and built a lead that reached as many as 15 points at 35–20. Italy trimmed the deficit before halftime, but Israel still led 39–32 at the break.

The momentum continued after halftime as Oren Aharoni’s squad held Italy to just 11 points in the third quarter while dominating the rebounding battle 52–34. The fourth quarter was merely a formality, as Israel cruised to an emphatic 84–59 victory, guaranteeing its place in Division A for next year’s U20 European Championship.

Following the win over the defending champions, Israel’s U20 national team secured its place in Division A for next year’s FIBA U20 European Championship. Yonatan Keller with 19 points, Oren Sahar who scored 18 points and Rani Belaga added 12 points and 9 assists led the way for the blue-and-white. On Saturday, Israel will face Latvia in the 9th–12th place classification games.

Head Coach Oren Aharoni said after the game, “It was very, very important for us to win. We faced tough teams after the group stage, and don’t be fooled by the margin, the Italians are an excellent team, and half of their roster won this tournament before. I’m very pleased with my squad and my players. They have a very bright future. Our outside shots went in and that really freed us up. In the previous game we got off to a poor start and missed a lot of shots. The Greeks were excellent and took us out of our rhythm, but the real story was our defense. The guys played outstanding defense, both in our zone and man-to-man, against some terrific players.”