The Israel Under-20 Men’s National Team defeated Finland 88-69 on Sunday afternoon to move to 2-0 in group stage play at the European Championship. Following Saturday’s win over Spain, the young blue-and-white fell behind early 25-20 after the opening frame against Finland, Head Coach Sharon Avrahami’s team picked up the pace and outscored their opponents 26-10 in the second quarter to take a 46-35 advantage into halftime.

From there Israel kept scoring at will as Purdue’s Omer Mayer, Hapoel Beer Sheva guard Yoav Vitlem along with Elitzur Netanya big man Maxim Filonenko leading the squad to the double-digit win. On Monday, Avrahami’s side will look to defeat Poland and close out Group A with a perfect 3-0 record ahead of the knockout rounds.

Mayer opened the game with a trio of triples to help Israel to a 18-12 lead, however, Finland took a timeout and rattled off a 12-0 run as they headed into the second quarter with a 5-point lead. Filonenko, who came off the bench near the end of the first frame, dominated on both ends of the court in the second quarter, providing a solid presence on defense while putting down a wonderful alley-oop from Mayer on offense, who himself added yet another 3-pointer of his own. Avrahami’s team held the Finns to just one point for almost 8 minutes and thanks to a 21:1 run, helping Israel head into halftime with an 11-point, 46-35 advantage.

The break didn’t stop the blue-and-white’s momentum as Filonenko along with Vitlem bumped the lead to 63-45 by the end of the third period while Mayer and Alon Michaeli kept scoring which allowed Avrahami the chance to play all 12 players in the 88-69 victory.

Mayer scored 19 points and added 6 assists, Vitlem and Filonenko dropped 15 points each as game one star Shachar Doron and Michaeli added 10 points a piece in the win while Elmeri Abbey scored 15 points for Finland in the loss.

“This was an important victory for us after we didn’t begin the game well with a poor first quarter,” Avrahami said. “The players came out well in the second quarter and guys who hadn’t played much in the first game including Maxim Filonenko, Omer Dragushansky and Uriel Abulof gave us strength and energy. We defended very well in the second and third quarters and now I am looking forward to Poland for what will be a difficult but very crucial game. We want to finish in first place in our group.”

The Israel Under-18 Women’s National Team finished off their respective European Championship in 16th and last place after a 58-52 loss to Portugal. Shira HaElion’s team did not manage to win a single contest of the seven that were played throughout the tournament although Maya Zilbershlag was the bright spot in the campaign as she led the blue-and-white in the final game with a 12 point and 12 rebound double-double.