Lithuania defeat Spain to win FIBA U16 European Championship title

SKOPJE (North Macedonia) - Lithuania claimed the 2022 FIBA U16 European Championship title after beating Spain 77-68 in the Final on Saturday.

Mantas Laurencikas top scored with 26 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 steals as Lithuania ended a run of four straight Final losses in the competition to be crowned champions for the first time since 2008.

Lithuania started strong to lead by 14 at half-time and despite Spain edging within three points in the fourth quarter, they were able to close out the win.

Spain's Mario Saint-Supery was named tournament MVP and finished with 31 points in the Final defeat with Lithuania's Nojus Indrusaitis earning a spot on the All-Star Five. There were also places for Ben Avraham Saraf, Neoklis Avdalas and Mohamed Diakite.

Meanwhile, France claimed the final spot on the podium as they defeated Greece 65-46 as they dominated the middle periods. Noa Essengue top scored with 17 points and also had 6 steals as France outscored their opponents 47-21 in the second and third quarters.

Israel secured a top-five finish as Ben Avraham Saraf and Ory Yair combined for 51 points in their 89-75 triumph over Italy, while Slovenia eased to a 67-46 win against Turkey to take 7th place.

David Mirkovic fired in 30 points as Montenegro defeated Latvia 64-54 in the 9-10 Classification Round with Poland edging out hosts North Macedonia 71-68 to secure an 11th place finish.

In the battle for Division A survival, Serbia overcame Croatia in a 70-63 victory with Miroslav Bogdanovic contributing 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, while Savo Drezgic posted 14 points, 8 assists and 7 steals.

Netherlands avoided 16th spot with a 70-55 success over Denmark, but both sides will be playing in Division B next summer along with Croatia.

Final Standings

1. Lithuania
2. Spain
3. France
4. Greece
5. Israel
6. Italy
7. Slovenia
8. Turkey
9. Montenegro
10. Latvia
11. Poland
12. North Macedonia
13. Serbia
14. Croatia
15. Netherlands
16. Denmark

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