ANDORRA LA VELLA (Andorra) - It was a tough night for Malta with their loss in the FIBA European Championship for Small Countries 2024 Final, but the consolation prize comes in form of the Most Valuable Player award for Samuel Deguara.
The 2.30m big man dominated in the paint and capped off his tournament performance with 18 points and 5 rebounds, though it came in an 84-79 loss to Andorra in the Final.
Deguara led all the scorers with 22.0 points per game and topped the charts in rebounding with an average of 13.3 per game. His best performance came in the Semi-Finals with a monstrous double-double of 23 points and 24 rebounds.
Deguara was joined by Gibraltar's Jamie McGrail, San Marino's Davide Macina and Andorra's guard duo of Bruno Bartolome and Sergi Serrato on the tournament's All-Star Five.
Serrato finished fourth in scoring and assisting charts with 15.8 points and 4 assists per game, while Bartolome did a little bit of everything with averages of 12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals, but proved clutch as his best performance came in the Final with 24 points.
McGrail trailed only MVP Deguara in points per game with 18.6, and he also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game, but missed out on a medal with Gibraltar.
Macina was San Marino's top man with 13.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, which was enough to put him in second place on the assists chart.
FIBA