Boxscores

VIDNOJE (FIBA U21 World Championship for Women) – Barbara Semsei and Dora Horti fired Hungary to a 75-67 victory over Brazil on Sunday to clinch seventh place.

The European team, played well at times in this tournament but eventually lost to Russia in the last eight, and they lost suffered a 73-64 defeat to Belgium on Saturday which prevented the Hungarians from playing in the fifth/sixth place contest.

On Sunday, they established control early with a 24-17 lead after the first quarter and stretched that advantage to 39-26 at half-time.

But Brazil held their nerve and battled back, closing the gap to 49-45 with 15 seconds left in the third quarter on a Jacqueline Silvestre jump shot.

The South Americans continued to score, but their defense couldn’t stop the Hungarians from putting points on the board as well.

Nevertheless, after trading baskets for much of the fourth quarter, Brazil reeled off 10 straight points in a two-minute run which left them trailing 67-65 with 1:28 remaining in the game.

Hungary, instead of calling timeout to kill the momentum, pushed the ball up the floor and Semsei buried a three-pointer for a 70-65 lead.

Joice De Souza was off target with a shot from the arc for Brazil, and Hungary rebounded.

Semsei added to her scoring with a pair of free throws, and after De Souza’s lay-up with 32 seconds remaining trimmed the deficit to 72-67, Katalin Honti made two more at the charity stripe as the Hungarians completed the victory.

FIBA