Third European gold for a team that had not achieved it for 5 years
The Blaugrana Michael Caicedo, one of the most outstanding in the final and the tournament
The Spanish under-20 basketball team beat Lithuania (61-69) and won his third European Championship in the category with the government of John Nunezwho led a new generation of young players in which names like Millán Jiménez, Rubén Domínguez, Michael Caicedo or Miguel Allen will be loud in the not too distant future.
DATA SHEET
Under-20 Eurobasketball
LIT
ESP
LINEUPS
Lithuania (17+18+18+6)
Jarusevicius (4), Kiudulas (4), Marciulionis (6), Rubinas (8), Rubstavicius (15) -initial five- Budrys (-), Butka (11), Montvila (2), Pivorius (3), Preibys ( -), Stenionis (7) and Tamulevicius (1).
Spain (26+14+13+14)
Alderete (2), Caicedo (13), Etxeguren (5), Jiménez (3), Juan Núñez (11) -starting five- Montesdeoca, Díaz (6), Domenech (4), Rubén Domínguez (17), Ferrando (2 ), Huguet (-), Allen (6) and Peñarroya (-).
referees
W. Liszka (Poland), A. Kardaris (Greece) and T. Bissuel (France). Without eliminated.
Pavilion
Bemax Arena in Podgorica (Montenegro).
More than five years after Spain’s last victory in a U-20 European Championship (Helsinki 2016), Joaquín Prado’s boys faced the challenge of beating Lithuania again to sign their third title in history. Already in the group stage, Spain was far superior to its rival in the final with a victory that began the series of six in a row with which it reached the gold medal match undefeated.
Lithuania, more erratic in the group stage after two defeats, woke up in time to reach the title match. In addition, they were able to get rid of host Montenegro, one of the most dangerous teams, in the semifinals. Thanks in part to Rubstavicius Blankets, top scorer in the tournament with 123 points over six games. Without a doubt, he was the man that Spain had to stop to get closer to victory.
And it didn’t start bad. Above all, to the rhythm of Michael Caicedo, who started the first quarter very plugged in. He practically scored ten points almost in a row. He finished with 100 percent success on all his shots. Thank you to the Barcelona playerSpain took land in the middle and came to have a maximum advantage of fourteen points that faded in the third quarter.
Rubstavicius and Dovydas Butka sharpened their aim and Lithuania began their comeback on the marker. Spain, failed, accumulated up to five consecutive minutes without scoring and, for the first time in the match, Lithuania took the lead. He even had a four-point lead (48-44), but Prado’s team reacted in time to level the match before the final quarter.
Tied at 48, Spain and Lithuania the title was played in the last ten minutes. then it appeared Ruben Dominguezwhich made up for the lower score of John Nunez based on triples. Even so, Spain had nothing assured. With three minutes to go, they won by one (61-62). He even had a chance to get ahead, but Aitor Etxeguren signed a spectacular stopper that was then made good by Miguel Allen with an exhibition mate (61-64).
Then, Núñez appeared to leave his stamp. The best of Spain this tournament with the permission of Caicedo, Millán Jiménez and Rubén Domínguez, culminated an impossible layup that gave Spain half a title. With a five-point lead, an error by Lithuania and the ball for Spain with a minute to go, everything was settled. There was no Baltic miracle and Spain signed the third title in history to elevate a new generation.