TIRANA (Albania) - Cyprus and Luxembourg will battle it out for the title at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2025, Division C after both teams registered comfortable wins in their Semi-Final games.
Cyprus remained undefeated in the first encounter on Saturday with a 75-61 victory over Andorra. Michail Karagiannis led the way with a great all-around performance with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 blocks for an efficiency of 32.
Dimitris Mannaris helped out with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds plus 6 assists.
The game was tight for the first 15 minutes and then Cyprus broke it open. A 14-0 surge built a 42-29 advantage late in the first half and Dimitrios Koukouris' team never were challenged the rest of the way.
Cyprus are already record winners at the U18 Division C level, having hoisted the trophy three times - most recently in 2023. They also topped the podium in 2001 and 2019; earning the right to play in Division B.
Standing in Cyprus' way will be Luxembourg, who have never won the Division C crown. They dropped from Division B starting in 2022 and finished third the first two summers before losing to Azerbaijan in the Final in 2024.
Luxembourg's Under-18s team hope to match the feat from their younger counterparts, who took first place at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2025, Division C two weeks ago.
Luxembourg for their part were forced to sweat it out late but defeated Armenia 74-64 win in the second Semi-Final. Sean Bugeja scored 22 points in the victory and Leis Sabotic chipped in 17 points.
Luxembourg raced away early in the second quarter to open a 13-point lead. They controlled the rest of the game until the final minute when Armenia made one last push.
Armenia managed to trim the gap to five points with 39 seconds to play only to have Bugeja answer with three free throws to decide the game.
Armenia and Andorra will face off in the Third Place Game. Andorra are two-time winners of the competition, while Armenia are hoping to improve on their fourth place from last summer which was their best result in the event.
Final
Cyprus vs Luxembourg
Third-Place Game
Andorra vs Armenia
FIBA