Austria beat Sweden in the final of the U-20 Division "B" European Championship, but both teams were already promoted to Division "A", a great prize for them (66-71). Hosts were led once more by Rasid Mahalbasic ('90), who collected an amazing double-double: 28 points (11/15 FG), 15 rebounds and 3 assists. His teammate Jesse Seilem ('90) also made a good job in the victory, finishing with 15 points and 3/6 threes. At swedish side guard Andreas Person ('91) poured 15 points, pulling down 6 rebounds and dishing 4 assists. Forward Pierre Hampton ('91) added 14 with 2/4 from downtown.
In the game for the final third position Poland beat Bulgaria (86-76) with another show of Aleksander Czyz ('90) -25 points and 11/13 twos-, helped by guard Piotr Pamula ('90), who had 16 points and 7 assists. Bulgarians battled, but couldn't do it even Aleksandar Georgiev ('90), who finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. His teammate Hristo Zahariev ('90) scored 15 with 7/8 FG, nailing his only three points shot of the tournament today.
Israel has been fifth after winning Great Britain in a very offensive contest (103-92). Jacob Cohen ('90) led the winners with 23 points and 9 boards, while Omer Rub ('90) added 22 with 3/4 threes. For brits Ovie Soko ('91) completed a great tournament with his eighth game in double-figures (only played eight): 31 points and 7 rebounds. Beside him Alex Marcotullio ('91), from Scotland, scored 23 with 5/12 behind the arc.
Portugal finished seventh after beating Belgium (61-64) even Maarten Rademakers ('91) -17 points and 10 rebounds- and Pierre-Antoine Gillet ('91), with 11 points and 18 boards. Andre Pereira ('90) and Tomas Barroso ('90) led the winners with 10 points each. Team coached by Paul Vervaeck struggled at three points line (4/26), one of the keys.
Finland was the ninth best team closing the tournament with a win over Norway (65-54). Annto Nikkarinen ('91) nailed 14 points with 2/4 threes and Sasu Salin ('91) scored the same points but with 4/9 from downtown. At norwegian side Roy Nwachukwu ('90) poured 12 with 6 boards and Anders Stien ('90) added 10 and 5 steals.
Who finished 11th? Hungary after beating Slovak Republic (85-88) due to Janos Ellingsfeld ('91) again: 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Beside him also shined Ferdinand Morgen ('90) with 14 points and 14 rebounds. For Slovak Republic guard Peter Mikulik ('90) was their best scorer with 19 points and 4/8 threes, while Andrej Kuffa ('90) added 16 and 5 boards.
Finally, in the Classification Round, Georgia beat Denmark (80-83) with Beqa Chikviladze ('91) scoring 19 but struggling at three points line (2/12) and Akaki Dvalishvili ('91) collecting a double-double (15 points, 10 boards and 3 blocks). For danish people Thomas Laerke ('91) -played last season at Findlay Prep, an american HS- made his best game in Austria with 27 points and 4/6 threes. His teammate Jonas Bergstedt ('91) nailed 14 with 8 rebounds.
Final standings: 1-Austria, 2-Sweden, 3-Poland, 4-Bulgaria, 5-Israel, 6-Great Britain, 7-Portugal, 8-Belgium, 9-Finland, 10-Norway, 11-Hungary, 12-Slovak Republic, 13-Georgia, 14-Romania, 15-Denmark and 16-Belarus.
Photo: FIBA Europe
