Armenia celebrate title triumph; Jones takes home MVP award

VALETTA (Malta) - Armenia have been crowned FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2022 champions after they defeated hosts Malta 84-68 in Sunday's Final.

Chris Jones produced an incredible performance with 41 points on 16-of-24 shooting along with 10 rebounds and 6 assists to lead Armenia to victory and also earn the tournament's MVP award.

The 29-year-old was joined in the All-Star Five by teammate Andre Spight with Malta's Samuel Deguara, Guillem Colom of Andorra and Azerbaijan's Orhan Haciyeva completing the lineup after impressing throughout the tournament.

Armenia got off to a slow start in the Final as they found themselves 15-2 behind early on as the hosts raced out of the blocks. However, they soon settled into the contest and took control off the back of 20 unanswered points in the second as Spight contributed 12 points.

From trailing 26-18, they dominated to take a 50-32 lead and never looked back with Armenia adding a second title to the one they previously won back in 2016 with a perfect campaign.

Earlier, Andorra claimed the final step on the podium as they collected a bronze medal with an 84-75 success over Azerbaijan as Colom led the way with 31 points in the win, while San Marino finished in fifth place as they opened the final day's action with a 62-52 victory over Gibraltar.

FIBA