MATOSINHOS (FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship 2016) – Spain have been crowned back-to-back champions in the most dramatic of fashion, defeating Italy 71-69 in Portugal on Sunday evening.

Having rallied back from 19 points adrift led by the almost-unanimous tournament MVP Cecilia Zandalasini, Italy had the chance to send the game to overtime, only for their desperation buzzer-beater to rim out, sending the Spaniards into wild raptures.

Zandalasini headlined the All-Star Five, where she was joined by victorious Spanish co-captain Laura Quevedo. Quevedo played a limited role in the Final, going down with an injury early in the opening quarter. Rounding out the team was Raisa Musina of Russia, Aleksandra Crvendakic from Serbia and Julie Allemand from Belgium.

Earlier in the day, Russia made up for their Semi-Final disappointment to hold on for a 78-72 win over Serbia, whilst in the other major game of interest, Turkey preserved their Division A status with a nail-biting victory over Greece in the Classification Game for 13^th to 14^th Place.

They will next year play in Division B with Germany and Slovak Republic, whose fate had been sealed 24 hours earlier.

Meanwhile, Slovenia, Lithuania and Hungary return to Division A for 2017, with the latter grabbing the third and final spot with a tense 50-49 win over a heartbroken Czech Republic team.

Slovenia made up for their loss to Lithuania earlier in the tournament, easing to a 62-45 victory in the tournament conclusion.

The FIBA U20 Women’s European Championship Division A standings are:

1. Spain
2. Italy
3. Russia
4. Serbia
5. Belgium
6. France
7. Latvia
8. Poland
9. Netherlands
10. Portugal
11. Bosnia and Herzegovina
12. Sweden
13. Turkey
14. Greece
15. Slovak Republic
16. Germany

For full tournament coverage, click here.