Perfect Armenia sweep their way to the gold, Azerbaijan climb to the podium

ANDORRA LA VELLA (FIBA U16 European Championship 2017, Division C) - Armenia dominated from Day 1, and finished the tournament with six wins in as many games to take gold.

Gibraltar were holding on in the Final, but a 27-15 second quarter handed Armenia a 50-33 lead at the half. They were on cruise control the rest of the way, finishing with an 88-70 triumph to claim not only their first gold at the event, but also their first-ever medal at the FIBA U16 European Championship, Division C.

Georgii Shakhnazarov led the way in the final with 27 points, connecting on 4-of-10 from three-point range. Aleksey Chizhenok had a higher player efficiency rating, a game-high 38, with his 20 points on 9-of-14 from the field, 18 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. David Karamyan scored 17 points, Nikita Galtsev was the leading rebounder with 20 points, and he also had 10 points in the Final.

Gibraltar trailed by as many as 31 points in the game, and Alejandro Garcia Tejon will have a memory of a Final double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Captain Jamie Mesilio was the only other player in double digits for Gibraltar, finishing with 15 points.

Azerbaijan had no trouble with the hosts in the Third-Place Game. Papuna Kirtadze went over 30 points for the third time in the tournament, putting 31 next to his name in a 75-55 win over Andorra. Kirtadze was on fire all week long, giving Azerbaijan 27.8 points per contest.

In the Classification Games, Jordan Ratton had 15 points and 19 rebounds as Monaco defeated Albania 79-71 to take 5th place. Sion Gordon's 16-point, 11-rebound double-double led Wales to a 65-60 win over Moldova in the battle for 7th, and Tommaso Felici followed suit with all the double-doubles of the day. He had 22 points and 16 rebounds to hand San Marino a 69-65 victory over Malta in the 9th place game.

FIBA