Australia won the U-18 Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim (Germany) after beating Germany U-18 in the final (51-58). The "Aussies" stopped the group coached by Kay Bluemel, where power-forward Philipp Neumann ('92) shined once more with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Mathis Monninghoff ('92) added 11 points and 4 rebounds, while Bill Borekambi ('92) nailed 9 grabbing 10 boards and dishing 1 assist. In the last quarter Australia won 9-22. Too much for germans.

 

Germany U-17 participated in the tournament to prepare the U-17 World Championship of this summer in Hamburg, but even they were younger they've finished third after beating USA (68-79). Besnik Bekteshi ('93) led the win with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal, while Paul Albrecht ('92) had 13 with 5 rebounds. Great result of German Federation.

 

In the game for the fifth position Spain beat Italy (79-96) even the show of Andrea Traini ('92). The italian guard nailed 31 points (10/20 FG and 9/9 FT), pulled down 6 boards, dished 4 assists and made 3 steals. Fabio Mian ('92) was the other italian with more than ten points: 14 with 6/16 FG. For spaniards Albert Ventura ('92) had 18 with 2/4 threes, while Angel Aparicio ('92), from FC Barcelona, scored 17 points grabbing 12 rebounds.

 

Finally Croatia finished 7th due to the victory over Turkey (60-66). Youngster Dario Saric ('94) led the winners with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Antonio Boban ('93) added 15 with 5/9 behind the arc. For turkish captain Safak Edge ('92) scored points again with bad percentages: 17 with 7/22 FG. Ugur Dokuyan ('93), from Tofas Bursa, had 19 and 8 rebounds.

 

Croatian Dario Saric ('94) won the Burkhard Wildermuth-Award, while german Philipp Neumann ('92) and french Evan Fournier ('92) were named in the All-Tournament team with three australians.

 

Photo: AST