Serbia big man Pecarski named MVP, tops All-Star Five

RIGA (FIBA U18 European Championship 2018) - Marko Pecarski was named Most Valuable Player of the FIBA U18 European Championship 2018 after leading Serbia to the title in a 99-90 victory over Latvia in the Final.  

Pecarski collected 34 points and 13 rebounds  in the Final and led the tournament in scoring with 24.7 points and rebounds with 11.0 boards per game. He also had 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in winning back-to-back U18 European crowns.

"This year I had a lot more experience. I experienced this already - it's a different feeling (than last summer)," said Pecarski, who won the 2017 U18 title along with Filip Petrusev. "It's even better because to do it twice is very rare. I still can't believe that we won. I will have that feeling in a few days."

Pecarski also topped the All-Star Five, which included Petrusev, Lativa's Arturs Zagars, Joel Ayayi of third-placed finishers France and Nikita Mikhailovskii of Russia.

Petrusev had 29 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists in the Final and finished third in the tournament in scoring and rebounds, with 22.3 points and 8.7 boards per game respectively. Petrusev also collected 3.1 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.1 steals. 

Zagars poured in 26 points to go with 11 assists in Latvia's first-ever U18 Final. For the tournament he averaged 18.9 points, a tournament second-best 6.3 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals.  

Ayayi averaged 15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals for France, while Mikhailovskii collected 16.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists.

FIBA