Serbia became the first nation to defend their U20 European Championship Men title with Most Valuable Player Milos Teodosic scoring 22 points and handing out five assists in an 87-78 victory over Spain in Sunday's final.
The title also meant the end of a golden generation for Serbian basketball as the nucleus of the team also captured the 2003 U16, 2005 U18 and 2006 U20 championships.
Milos Teodosic not only led Serbia to the U20 European Championship Men crown, the play-maker also was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
The 20-year-old point guard, who will participate in the senior national team's training camp for the 2007 EuroBasket, tallied 22 points and dished out five assists in Serbia's 87-78 victory over Spain in Sunday's final.
It's not the gold, but co-hosts Italy collected their first medal at the U20 European Championship Men since 1994 in beating Russia 74-63 for the bronze.
Luigi Da Tome (pictured) led the way with 26 points and Pietro Aradori added 11 points for the 1992 gold medal winners and 1994 runners-up.
Israel blew a 20-point lead over the final 16 minutes and allowed co-hosts Slovenia to claim fifth place at the U20 European Championship Men with a 90-81 victory.
Matej Krusic scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead six Slovenians in double figures with Emir Preldzic also scoring 16 points and Rok Perko chipping in 14 off the bench.
Nando De Colo (pictured) scored 18 points and dished out seven assists to help France to ninth place at the U20 European Championship Men with a 91-82 victory over Croatia.
Aaron Cel and Fabien Causeur each added 16 points for the French, who dropped to ninth after sixth-placed showings in 2005 and 2006.
Spain have advanced to their first semi-finals of the U20 European Championship Men since 2002 and already improved greatly on their struggles of 11th, 13th and 11th placed finishes over the past three summers.
One of the biggest reasons for the Iberians' undefeated push to the final against reigning champions Serbia is Spain's balance as a team.
Serbia will have the chance to defend their U20 European Championship Men title after knocking off co-hosts Italy 77-62 thanks to a combined 40 points from Nikola Dragovic and Milos Teodosic.
Milenko Tepic added 11 points and Vladimir Stimac had 12 rebounds as Serbia dominated the first half and managed the game well after the break to head into Sunday's final against undefeated Spain.
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