Ukraine, Latvia, Croatia win at Euro championship

Ante Tomic made a layup with nine seconds remaining to give Croatia a 77-76 victory over Georgia at the European championship on Thursday.

Also, Ukraine and Latvia won their second games in two days. Ukraine beat Israel 74-67 behind 17 points from Sergii Gladir, while Latvia edged Montenegro 73-72 on a jumper by Kristaps Janicenoks with six seconds on the clock.

Finland also won its second straight by beating Sweden 81-60.

Croatia bounced back after a big loss to Spain, with Dontaye Draper leading the Croats with 16 points. Viktor Sanikidze made a 3-pointer for a one-point Georgia lead but Antic then scored the winning basket.

George Tsintsadze led Georgia with 25 points but missed a last-second layup.

Janicenoks scored five points in the last 20 seconds to deny Montenegro, which beat Macedonia by a point a day earlier.

American-born guard Tyrese Rice had converted a three-point play to put Montenegro up by one with 11 seconds remaining, before Janicenoks sank the jumper. Rice then missed a final layup despite leading Montenegro with 24 points.

Ukraine had a balanced team effort and never trailed after opening the match with a 13-2 run. Viacheslav Kravtsov contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Afik Nissim was the only Israeli to score in double digits with 12.

Ukraine now has a 2-0 record in Group A, while Israel is 0-2.

Latvia is 2-0 in Group B and Montenegro 1-1. Croatia and Georgia are 1-1 in Group C. Finland is 2-0 in Group D and Sweden is 0-2.

Three teams from each group advance to the second round of the 24-team tournament.

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