Monaco, Albania ready to face off in Final

SERRAVALLE (San Marino) - Monaco and Albania are the two teams left standing after the Semi-Finals at the FIBA U18 European Championship, Division C, and the two will now play it out for the top spot.

The first Semi-Final saw Monaco continue their strong play and knock off Luxembourg 80-65.

Monaco held a slight 40-37 lead at halftime before going on to outscore Luxembourg 40-28 in the second half to complete their wire-to-wire win.

Monaco's Eithan Zerbib continued his streak of scoring at least 21 points in each game this tournament, finishing with 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals and knocking down four three-pointers.

Albania emerged victorious over Azerbaijan in the second Semi-Final, 76-56, behind the spectacular play of three players.

There were two double-doubles from Andri Jareci (19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) and Aleksis Nika (12 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals), as well as a 30-point, 9-rebound showing from Enzo Zotaj.

Albania's whopping 56 points in the paint equaled Azerbaijan's total points scored. They also had a +20 advantage in rebounds.

Albania led 29-28 at halftime, but a huge 28-8 third quarter blew the game open.

Roderick Anderson III recorded yet another 30-plus point game for Azerbaijan with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

The two losers from the Semi-Finals, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan, will now play for third place.

In the Classification Games 5-8, Andorra trailed Armenia after three quarters, but stormed back with a 19-6 fourth quarter to grab a 69-57 win. Leonardo Lopez Calzada put up a huge performance with 33 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 7 blocks.

Malta picked up a wire-to-wire 74-58 victory over Moldova, as all of Malta's points were scored by five players, led by Neil Cassar who recorded 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Armenia and Moldova will square off in the 7-8 classification game, while Andorra and Malta will play in the 5-6 classification game, both to take place before the Third-Place Game and Final.

FIBA