Eastern Michigan Athletics
Luka Savicevic Helps North Macedonia to Eighth at Euros
7/27/2022 9:46:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sophomore ranked third in the tournament with 5.6 assists per game for the Lions
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Luka Savicevic (So./Skopje, North Macedonia/Sports Academy Skopje), averaged 10.4 points and a team-high 5.6 assists per contest as he helped his native North Macedonia to an eighth-place finish at the recently completed 2020 FIBA U20 European Championships, Division B tournament that was held in Tbilisi, Georgia, July 15-24. A rising sophomore with the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball program, Savicevic was making his second U20 appearance for the Lions after helping the team to a 2-3 record at the 2021 European Challenger Tournament.
This year, the Lions posted a 3-1 record in Group B play with North Macedonia (MKD) opening play with a 90-54 win over Austria. After suffering a 92-90 defeat to eventual group winner Sweden, the Lions bounced back with a pair of wins, including scores of 85-67 over Kosovo and 76-73 over host Georgia to clinch second place in the group and a spot in the quarterfinals. In the second half of the tournament, the Lions dropped all three of their contests to finish eighth. In the quarterfinals, MKD lost an 81-59 decision to Estonia, who eventually placed third overall. Serbia and Iceland claimed the Top 2 places in the event.
In their Classification 5-8 game, Latvia scored an 85-62 win over MKD (Latvia would end up losing to Sweden in the fifth-place game). In its final game, MKD played strong, but was unable to overcome Bulgaria, falling, 69-64, in the seventh-place contest. Despite the losses after group play, the eighth-place finish for the Lions was one of their best in recent years for the U20 side. In the 2019 edition of the tournament, MKD placed 16th overall after placing 12th in 2018.
All told, Savicevic, who started all seven games in Georgia, was one of the top players on his squad as he led the team with 5.6 assists per game, which ranked third-best in the tournament while his 39 helpers ranked as the second-most in the tournament, just two off the overall lead of 41 by Switzerland's Malyk Rebetez. During his 27.9 minutes of play per game, Savicevic tallied 10.4 points per game, which was 45th overall in the event and 11th among guards while his 73 points ranked 38th and seventh, respectively. He also tallied 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.7 blocks, which was tied for the second-most rejections by a guard while his five total blocks tied for the most by a guard as well.
With the conclusion of the tournament, Savicevic has now appeared in four European competitions for MKD, including three European Championships, Division B events and one European Challenger with the list including the 2022 U20, 2019 U18 and 2018 U16 events to go along with the 2021 challenger competition. Overall, Savicevic' national youth team appearances have amounted to averages of 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 27 total games.
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2022 FIBA U20 EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS, DIVISION B
North Macedonia Results
Group Play - MKD def. Austria, 90-54 - Savicevic line: 25 mins, 13p, 4r, 9a
Group Play - Sweden def. MKD, 92-90 - Savicevic line: 34 mins, 15p, 4r, 8a, 3st
Group Play - MKD def. Kosovo, 85-67 - Savicevic line: 25 mins, 7p, 5r, 6a, 2st
Group Play - MKD def. Georgia, 76-73 - Savicevic line: 31 mins, 14p, 4r, 4a
Quarterfinal - Estonia def. MKD, 81-59 - Savicevic line: 22 mins, 5p, 5r, 2a, 2blk
Classification 5-8 - Latvia def. MKD, 85-62 - Savicevic line: 22 mins, 5p, 4r, 5a, 3st, 1blk
7th Place Game - Bulgaria def. MKD, 69-64 - Savicevic line: 36 mins, 14p, 4r, 5a, 3st, 1blk
Savicevic Totals - 27.9 mins, 10.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists (#3 in tournament), 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks
