Andorra squeeze past Scotland in Group B; Austria keep San Marino without a win

SERRAVALLE (FIBA U16 European Championship 2018, Division C) – Andorra turned in another winning performance in the FIBA U16 European Championship 2018, Division C and improved to a 2-0 record after getting the better of Scotland in a down-to-the-wire Group B contest in San Marino on Wednesday.

Sergi Serrato Balletbo played a decisive role in the 70-69 triumph with team-highs of 24 points, 7 rebounds and 9 steals in a game that saw the lead change hands 10 times, with neither side leading by more than nine points.

Louis Sullivan of Scotland was the leading scorer of the game with 25 points despite being severely limited by foul trouble and playing under 20 minutes.

Louis Sullivan fouled out in less than 20 minutes

In the other game of the group, Malta bounced back from Tuesday's defeat to Wales by picking apart Gibraltar. A one-sided 70-41 contest was headlined by a 24-4 opening quarter in favor of the Maltese players and a 20-point and 10-rebound double-double by forward Matthew Scerri.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan needed the trio of Marko Milovanovic, Jabrayil Akbarov and Ramiz Guliyev to go the full 40 minutes against Moldova to keep their unbeaten record intact in Group A with a 60-46 victory.

 Marko Milovanovic, Ramiz Guliyev and Jabrayil Akbarov did not get any downtime 

Halfway through the game it was Moldova ahead by a single point, but the Elshan Yusubov-coached side managed to turn things around in the second half and got the job done with a 19-8 fourth quarter.

After having a bye day on Tuesday, one of the tournament favorites Austria joined the action in Group A by defeating  San Marino 75-50 in the last game of the day on Wednesday. A 23-point and 12-rebound double-double by Stefan Blazevic ensured a smooth start for the Austrians, who handed the tournament hosts their second defeat in a row.

FIBA