Georgios Bogris and Kostas Papanikolaou both scored 16 points as hosts Greece beat Latvia 77-71 to clinch third place in the qualifying round Group E of the U20 European Championship and book a quarter-final date against Croatia.

The hosts led from start to finish and improved their record to 4-1 thanks also to 13 points from Nikos Pappas and 10 points by Charalampoulos Giannopoulos.

"Maybe the other team was nervous and that's the reason we won easily. But we are focused on our game and that is very good for our team as we continue in the tournament," said Bogris, who also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots.

With the loss, Latvia were eliminated from the quarter-finals in falling to 1-4 in the group. Janis Strelnieks led Latvia with 19 points while Lauris Blaus added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Dairis Betrans scored 14 points in the loss.

The Latvians struggled to get into the game and watched as Greece jumped ahead 13-2 early on. And the gap was 18-6 after two straight Pappas baskets and 20-8 after one period.

After Latvia had cut the margin to 10 points on three occasions, Giannopoulos started a 9-2 surge to open a 33-16 advantage. But Varis Krumins's team fought back into the game and finished the second quarter on a 16-6 run to make it 39-32 at intermission.

Bertans and Kristers Zeidaks both knocked down three-balls early in the third period to cut the gap to 45-42. But Leonidas Kaselakis nailed a three-pointer of his own to start a 15-3 spurt for a 58-45 cushion. Latvia trimmed the margin back to nine - 60-51 - after three quarters.

Another Giannopoulos triple increased the lead to 65-53 and it was 69-55 midway through the fourth quarter. But Latvia would not give up with Lauris Mizis and Bertans hitting long balls in a 12-4 run to make it 73-67 with less than two minutes to play. But Kostas Sloukas hit a jumper and Bogris made two foul shots to ice the game.