Armenia, Andorra to face off in the Final after hard-fought battles

PRIZREN (Kosovo) - Armenia and Andorra  faced difficulties in the Semi-Finals of the U16 European Championship,  Division C on Saturday, but managed to prevail and book their tickets to the title game.

Andorra erased a fourth-quarter deficit to edge out Albania 63-60 and an energetic crowd witnessed Armenia end the dreams of  hosts Kosovo, 70-58.

Group A winners Kosovo put their best foot forward on the glass and at one point in the third quarter had almost twice as many rebounds as Armenia (50-26). Their hustle allowed them to make a significant run as they turned a 23-36 deficit into a 37-36 lead.

Point guard Gregory Moghoyan had something else in his mind, though. He knocked down three shots from downtown in a row as Armenia responded with a run of its own. Armenia poured in 31 points in the last quarter and re-created a double digit lead, thanks to Moghoyan’s 28 points.

The other Semi-Final proved to be just as thrilling. Albania made only one field goal in the first quarter, yet bounced back soon enough in a game full of pressure defense, double teams and turnovers.

Andorra lost their lead early in the third and found themselves trailing for several minutes. Yet the eight-time U16 medalists regained the lead in the fourth quarter and held on to it as Albania didn’t get up one last three-pointer that could have forced overtime.

Moldova took the lead within three minutes and staved off San Marino’s comeback attempts until breaking the game wide-open late in the fourth to win 70-56. Andrei Voitenco had a monster of a double double (25 points and 22 rebounds) helping Moldova win the rebounding battle 69-44.

The Moldovans will face Malta in the battle for fifth place, after Justin Caruana did his part in the other classification game as his 37 points sparked a victory for the Maltese. The victors held the lead for most of the match, yet saw Gibraltar move within two points during the last minute. Malta ultimately held on to a 60-57 win.

FIBA