Mayer Leads Israel at FIBA U20 EuroBasket Championships
HERAKLION, Greece – Incoming Purdue freshman Omer Mayer shined again overseas, helping Israel to a sixth-place finish at the FIBA U20 EuroBasket Championships.
Israel posted a 5-2 record during the event, losing to eventual champion Italy in the quarterfinals in a game they led by seven entering the fourth quarter, and to the host country, Greece, in the fifth-place game.
Mayer ranked sixth in the field in scoring at 16.7 points per game, fifth in assists per game at 5.1 and made 19, 3-pointers, good for second in the field. He scored at least 18 points in five of the seven games, including a superb 24-point, 11-assist effort in a win over Poland during pool play.
Mayer shot 41.2 percent from the field (40-of-97), 37.3 percent from 3-point range (19-of-51) and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line.
The week culminated an outstanding month for Mayer, who previously competed in the FIBA U19 World Cup, appearing in four games and ranking second in the tournament in scoring (20.0 PPG), while also averaging 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game, shooting 13-of-34 (.382) from 3-point range.
For his two tournaments, he played in 11 games, averaging 17.9 points, 4.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds, while shooting 32-of-85 (.376) from 3-point range. Mayer became Israel’s youth National Team leading all-time scorer with 584 points.