LAUSANNE (Switzerland) - Slovenia added a new chapter to their country's basketball legacy by claiming third place at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 for the nation's first-ever podium finish in a global event.

Slovenia fought a tough New Zealand team for a 91-87 victory in the Third Place Game in Lausanne.

Vit Hrabar and Zak Smrekar both scored 20 points and Urban Kroflic had a monster game with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists for the Europeans.

"Through the whole tournament we showed how much chemistry we have and how good we are as a team and it all paid off," said Hrabar. "This means everything. I was dreaming since I was a little kid to represent and wear this jersey."

Slovenia have earned titles on the continental stage - the biggest of which was Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic carrying the nation to the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 crown. Slovenia just missed the bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics with a fourth-placed finish.

Slovenia won the FIBA U20 EuroBasket trophy twice - 2000 and 2004 - among five podium finishes in that age group. The Balkan side also finished second at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2002.

New Zealand big man Oscar Goodman was forced out of the game for good after less than 4 minutes, and Slovenia took a 26-19 lead after 10 minutes. The Oceania side got back within one point only to see Slovenia pull away to the first double figure advantage 39-29. New Zealand did not let them get any further ahead and trailed 52-46 at the break.

The Europeans started the second half stronger and used a 13-3 surge to take a 68-54 lead midway through the third quarter. New Zealand tried to close the gap but it was still 75-64 after 30 minutes. The margin was down to four points before Hrabar nailed back-to-back triples to put Slovenia up 85-77 with under 4 minutes to go.

Slovenia led 89-79 with 35 seconds but New Zealand gave it one final push with the next eight points but there was only 1.5 seconds remaining when Tama Isaac made it 89-87.

Hayden Jones had 21 points for New Zealand and Isaac finished with 20 points. The Oceania side registered their third fourth place in global history along with at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2002 and FIBA U17.

The final day of action in Lausanne also saw classification action for the rest of the teams.

Canada bounced back from their Quarter-Finals loss to USA and finished fifth after beating Australia 75-72 with Tristan Beckford scoring 17 points in the win.

Israel finished their first FIBA U19 World Cup appearance in seventh place after beating hosts and fellow debutants Switzerland 79-68. Oren Sahar had 21 points and Rany Belaga flirted with a triple-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists for the winners.

Mali finished on a high note as they defeated Argentina 89-79 to take 11th place thanks to Youssef Traore collecting 27 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.

Thirteenth place went to China after an 81-77 triumph over Cameroon with Jiazheng Chen hitting 4 three-pointers for 25 points. Cameroon had two big performances but Gedeon Basson scoring 22 points and Amadou Seini totaling 12 points and 24 rebounds were not enough.

Dominican Republic picked up their first win with a 95-73 win over Jordan for 15th place, Adrian Britto scoring 19 points for the victors.

FIBA