In the last game of the tournament Croatia won over Israel 85 – 79 to finish without loss and win Vivatel Cup 2006 in Varna.
After leading 30 – 14 at the end of first quarter Croatian team even had 25 points advantage (43 – 18) in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Then Israel wake up and cut the lead to 18 points at the break. Big third quarter by the players of coach Zvi Sherf and after 30 minutes of play were only 2 points down (57 – 59).
Despite the push by Israeli team Croatia stay focused and were able to close out the game in their favor.
Guard Roko Leni Ukic led three other teammates with 19 points(16 in the first half). He went 4 of 4 behind the 3-point line in the first half. As team Croatia had excellent shooting from long distance (9 of 15) – 60 %.
Marko Popovic had another solid performance with 17 points and 5 assists.
For Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv center Yaniv Green ended with 17 points and Amir Tamir added 15 points and 8 rebounds coming off the bench.
Croatia impressed in the whole tournament and absolutely deserved the trophy at end of it. Israel finished second while Bulgaria third and Russia fourth.
Croatia open up their qualification campaign for EURO 2007 at home next Thursday against Latvia at home while Israel will play their first game in Sofia versus Bosna and Herzegovina.