Weber State basketball: Vartiainen leads Finland to 3rd place, promotion in EuroBasket
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- Weber State’s Viljami Vartiainen (8), of Finland, drives around a Romania player in the U20 EuroBasket semifinals on Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Petesti, Romania.
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- Weber State’s Marko Sarenac (10), of Serbia, shoots over a player from Iceland in a U20 EuroBasket consolation game Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Gdynia, Poland.
Photo supplied, FIBA
Weber State's Viljami Vartiainen (8), of Finland, drives around a Romania player in the U20 EuroBasket semifinals on Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Petesti, Romania.
Viljami Vartiainen helped lead Finland to a third-place finish at U20 EuroBasket Division B and a promotion into Division A for future competition as two Weber State men’s basketball sophomores finished their national team play this summer.
Vartiainen averaged 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and shot 42.6% from the 3-point line over seven games, averaging a plus-9.6 in the plus-minus margin as Finland finished 6-1. Vartiainen was one of five players named to the Division B all-tournament team.
The shooting guard also shot 76.9% (20 of 26) from the foul line, improved from his 68% average as a Weber State freshman.
Finland led from the start against Romania in the semifinals Saturday. But a 60-51 lead turned into a 71-61 deficit when Romania, playing in front of a home crowd as hosts of the Division B tournament, went on a 20-1 run over 5 1/2 minutes.
Vartiainen knocked down a 3-pointer to end Finland’s drought, then another a minute later as the Finns cut the score to 74-72 with 1:43 left.
Photo supplied, FIBA
Weber State's Marko Sarenac (10), of Serbia, shoots over a player from Iceland in a U20 EuroBasket consolation game Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Gdynia, Poland.
Finland wouldn’t score again. Vartiainen was tagged with a questionable foul on a Romanian driver with 17 seconds left, and two made free throws put the game away at 76-72.
Vartiainen shot 5 of 7 from deep in that contest.
Romania went on to win the Division B title. Finland recovered Sunday to defeat the Netherlands by 17 to take third place.
In U20 EuroBasket Division A, Serbia and WSU sophomore forward Marko Sarenac went 4-3 to finish in 11th place.
France, who Serbia defeated in group stage, defeated Slovenia for first place in the event held in Gdynia, Poland.
Serbia dropped its first game of bracket play in a 72-67 decision to the Czech Republic by losing the fourth quarter 18-9. Sarenac had his best game of the event, totaling 12 points, four rebounds and shooting 5 of 9 (including 2 of 4 from 3) to tally a plus-eight in the five-point loss.
Serbia later beat Iceland and Germany while taking a loss to Italy.
Sarenac averaged 4.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game over seven contests.
In Division B, former Layton Christian Academy point guard Tyrese Lacey averaged 11.1 points and 8.1 assists per game for Great Britian, which went 3-4 and finished in 12th place.
