ELBASAN (Albania) - Azerbaijan are crowned as the new FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2024, Division C winners after defeating Luxembourg 77-71 in the Final in Elbasan.
The 2016 winners got their second-ever gold with a routine success over Luxembourg who never had the lead in their first-ever encounter for the top spot on the podium.
Azerbaijan set the tone early with an 18-9 start in the first period of the game and the lead extended to a 23-point surplus, before Luxembourg answered with an 11-0 run which ensured an active result at the midway point.
A thrilling finish ensued, as Luxembourg had closed the third quarter with seven unanswered points and steered the game into turbulent water. However, Azerbaijan came up on top with a 10-3 run which erased all doubts entering the last minute.
Murad Babayev led the way to Azerbaijan's improvement on their 2022 bronze with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, as Derin Berkoz and Mahammad Huseynli added 14 points apiece.
Hosts Albania claimed the bronze medal with a comfortable 79-53 success over Armenia. Viktorio Hida's sublime double-double of 21 points and 20 rebounds powered the Albanians to their fourth Division C decoration.
Earlier, in the Classification Group 5-7, San Marino defeated Moldova 90-82 to claim the tournament's fifth place, as Moldova finished in sixth, while seventh place went to Gibraltar.
FIBA