DIVISION A

Vascanin Hails Triumphant Serbia

Serbia coach Dragan Vascanin could not hide his delight after watching his side clinch their maiden U16 European Championship for Men title.

Vascanin's team dethroned Spain with a 56-55 victory in the final in Rethimnon on Sunday.

Serbia Golden

Serbia used a strong second-half performance to beat Spain 56-55 for a second time in the last four days to dethrone the defending champions in the final at a packed Melina Merkoyri Stadium in Rethimnon tonight.

The result means this is Serbia’s first European title at the U16 level as the independent state of Serbia.

Musli Named MVP

Serbia centre Dejan Musli, who led his team to the title with a win over Spain in the final of the Termosteps U16 European Championship Men in Crete, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

The 212cm centre averaged just under 16 points a game and was the tournament’s leader in rebounds (12.0) as well as blocked shots (5.0).

Lithuania Take Bronze

Lithuania didn’t let their double-digit lead slip away completely as they had done a night before against Serbia and instead held on to beat Turkey 65-55 and claim the bronze medal in Rethimnon tonight.

The game was close in the first half but Lithuania used a 14-1 run spanning the end of the third quarter and the start of the final period to go up by 15, 56-41 before holding off a late rally by Turkey to win their first medal in this competition.

Cuspinera, Spain Ready For Serbia Challenge

Jota Cuspinera will bid to win a second U16 European Championship title in a row when the defending champions Spain face Serbia in tonight’s final.

Regardless of the outcome of the game, he believes his team has done very well to get to the title game.

Hangin' Tough: Spain Stop Turkey

Spain will have a chance to defend their title after coming back from a 12-point half time deficit to beat Turkey 81-75 in Rethimnon tonight and earn their place in the final.

The defending champions trailed 50-38 at the break, but turned things around in the second half thanks to their full-court press defense to beat Mustafa Derin’s men.

Serbia Edge Lithuania, Head To Final

Serbia will look to dethrone defending champions Spain in the final after using a strong fourth quarter to overcome Lithuania 74-64 in the second semi-final in Rethimnon tonight.

Dragan Vaskcanin’s men outscored Lithuania 32-12 over the game’s last 16 minutes to ensure a better result than their third place finish in the competition last year.

Vascanin: "Lithuania Have Heart"

Whether as part of Yugoslavia or as Serbia & Montenegro, Serbia has always had a rich basketball tradition.

From the 1980's up until the early 2000's, success in the U16 European Championship was almost a habit for the southeastern European state.