Eurobasket 1955
In Budapest for the Eurobasket 1955 competition, the Czechoslovakia team found itself slaying giants but falling to less vaunted opponents. They had little difficulty in the preliminary round, going 3-0 to advance to the final pool. There, Czechoslovakia defeated powerful Hungary, in Hungary's only loss of the final round on their way to the gold medal, but also gave Yugoslavia the only win the Yugoslavian team would get in the final round as Czechoslovakia fell 52-49 to the eventual 8th-place finishers. A third-round loss to Poland made the round robin look bleak for the Czechoslovakian team, as they were already down to 1-2 and had yet to face the Soviet Union, which had yet to lose a game in 4 tournaments and 31 matches.
Nevertheless, Czechoslovakia defeated the Soviets 81-74 in a surprising match. They then won their next three games, finishing in second place with the silver medal and a 5-2, edging out the Soviets who were also 5-2 after losing to Hungary in their sixth match. Czechoslovakia had managed to defeat both the gold medallists and bronze medallists, meanwhile losing to teams that finished 5th and 8th.
Read more about this topic: Czechoslovakia National Basketball Team