BELGRADE (Serbia) - Guillermo Del Pino buried a three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left to give Spain an 82-81 victory over France in the Final of the FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2025 and the country's sixth crown at the event.
It was a clash of titans that was preceded by Italy extending their record for the most third-place finishes to nine after beating Latvia.
Meanwhile, North Macedonia were the last team to be relegated to Division B, losing to Bulgaria in the showdown for the 13th place and thus joining Belgium and Sweden.
Key Storylines
Del Pino wins it for Spain: The Spanish rally to beat France for sixth title;
Italy return to the podium for the first time since 2016 by fighting past Latvia;
Bulgaria send North Macedonia to Division B and save themselves after a furious fourth quarter.
Final
France came into the Final already secured their first podium spot since 2018's third place. But they were hungry to finally make it five titles. Spain for their part have reached the Final in four of the last five events - winning the crown in 2019 and 2022. And it would be a showdown of two of the continent's bests.
France were getting to the basket early and often and built a 17-11 lead in the opening frame. Spain punched back with a 14-2 surge to move ahead 25-19 and it was 25-22 after 10 minutes.
The Spanish temporarily extended the lead to seven points midway through the second quarter but France were unimpressed and pulled back ahead themselves and the game was deadlocked 39-39 at halftime.
France had the better start to the second half with some tough defense and led 49-43. And Elise Prodhomme's team grabbed the first double-digit lead of the game at 57-47.
The determined French defense produced enough stops to lead 64-53 going into the final quarter.
France could not put away the Spanish and the Iberians' winning pedigree cut the deficit to five points with 5 minutes to go. But the French led just 79-71 after a big Hugo Yimga dunk with 41 seconds to play.
Del Pino was not fazed, hitting a three-pointer and layup before going to the line for two free throws down 81-78 with 4.5 seconds to play. After making the first, he missed the second but Spain retained possession with 3.5 seconds to play.
Raul Villar inbounded the ball to Del Pino on the left wing and he buried his third triple of the night and Spain won the trophy.
Del Pino finished with 23 points, Andy Huelves scored 16 points and Ian Platteeuw chipped in 11 points and 6 rebounds.
With their sixth title, Spain moved into sole possession of second-most U18 crowns behind only Soviet Union's eight. Spain's 2007-born players also managed to secure the generational double since seven of them won the championship at the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023.
Jonas Boulefaa led France with 19 points and Yimga's 17 points and 9 rebounds were for nought as France remained on four titles - the last one dating back to 2016. The French now have four second placed finishes.
Third Place Game
Italy bounced back from their disappointing second half performance in the Semi-Finals to beat Latvia 86-68 in the battle for third place.
It was a continuation of Italy's strong summer as the country won the FIBA U20 EuroBasket 2025 crown. And the victory gave Italy's 2007-born generation another medal after they finished second at both the FIBA U16 EuroBasket 2023 and FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2024.
Italy started off hot and grabbed a double-digit lead early on at 16-6. Latvia could only get as close as seven points, 24-17 after 10 minutes.
The Italians were up 41-28 when Latvia reeled off eight straight points to get close but were trailing 47-38 at halftime - with Lonati already on 18 points with 4 three-pointers.
Latvia did not let Italy pull away and once got the gap to six points and were down 63-55 after 30 minutes. Italy finished off the game with a 10-2 start to the final frame for a 16-point advantage.
Lonati finished with 27 points, Matteo Accorsi came off the bench for 10 points and Matteo Baiocchi chipped in 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
Top Performers
The top performance of the final day of action went to Germany's Mathieu Grujicic in a 73-64 win to take seventh place. The guard scored a tournament best 36 points, including making 12 of 15 free throws. Grujicic also grabbed 11 rebounds while also picking up 2 assists and 4 steals. All that resulted in an efficiency of 38 - which was just one point off Petar Ostojic's tournament high of 39.
Daniel Hinkov makes this list for a second straight day and helps Bulgaria avoid relegation with a masterful performance in the team's 90-87 win over North Macedonia for 13th place. Hinkov scored 23 points to go with 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals for an efficiency of 32.
Georgios Makaratzis played a major role in Greece taking 11th place with 108-78 win over Austria. Makaratzis scored 17 points to go with 3 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals for an efficiency of 29.
Kaloyan Balkandzhiev helped Hinkov keep Bulgaria in the Division A with a big showing of his own in their 90-87 victory against North Macedonia. Balkandzhiev totalled 31 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist, steal and block each to register an efficiency of 27.
The final spot on the list goes to Dominykas Daubaris who was outstanding in Lithuania's 106-65 win over Israel. The center scored 24 points - 10 more than his previous best in Belgrade - while also tallying 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block and an efficiency of 26.
Results of the Day
Final
Spain 82-81 France
Third Place Game
Italy 86-68 Latvia
Classification 5-6
Serbia 74-69 Slovenia
Classification 7-8
Türkiye 64-73 Germany
Classification 9-10
Israel 65-106 Lithuania
Classification 11-12
Austria 78-108 Greece
Classification 13-14
North Macedonia 87-90 Bulgaria
Classification 15-16
Belgium 85-78 Sweden
FIBA