A new edition of the U18 Division "B" European Championship is over, with Bulgaria and Denmark taking the elevator to Division "A" after playing the final of the tournament held in Varna (Bulgaria). Both squads will compete next summer with the best. Finally the title was for hosts, after winning (70-68) in the final. In this game 6'8'' F Dimitar Dimitrov ('93) collected a double-double (14 points and 10 rebounds), while at the losing effort Montrose Christian School's Kevin Larsen ('93) had 14 points and 14 boards. Who was selected the MVP of the event? Bulgarian 6'5'' G Pavlin Ivanov ('93), from Benetton Treviso, after averaging 18.3 points (39% threes) and 4.4 rebounds. The rest of the All-Tournament Team awards were for Danish Rasmus Larsen ('94) and Esben Reinholt ('93), and Swedish William Magarity ('93) and Tobias Borg ('93). The Bronze medal was for Sweden, after beating Montenegro (65-71) behind Magarity (18 with 8/14 FG). Let's check what happened in both semifinals, last step to the promotion.
In the first semifinal Bulgaria defeated Montenegro (67-54) in a tied contest, but the 21-9 run in the last quarter sent them to Division "A". Ivanov was the star after scoring 33 points (6/9 from downtown), helped by the job inside the paint from 6'8'' F Tencho Tenchev ('93): 9 points and 10 rebounds. At the other side youngtser Nikola Ivanovic ('94) had 16 points and 4 assists (but 8 turnovers). In the other semifinal Denmark crashed Sweden (54-78) behind Rasmus Larsen (21 points and 11 rebounds). The danish power under the rim (36 to 56 rebounds), one of the keys. Swedish Borg finished with 21 and 2/5 threes.
Final standings: 1-Bulgaria, 2-Denmark, 3-Sweden, 4-Montenegro, 5-Estonia, 6-Netherlands, 7-Israel, 8-Hungary, 9-Belgium, 10-Slovak Republic, 11-Romania, 12-Portugal, 13-Switzerland, 14-England, 15-Georgia, 16-Norway, 17-Luxembourg and 18-Austria.
Stats
-Points: Chris Ndow ('93, Norway) 22.3
-Rebounds: Clint N'Dumba Capela ('94, Switzerland) 15.7
-Assists: Simon Krajcovic ('94, Slovak Republic) 7.4
-Steals: Simon Krajcovic ('94, Slovak Republic) 5.6
-Blocks: Boris Bojanovsky ('93, Slovak Republic) 4.2.
For more stats go here.
Photo: FIBA Europe
