Gibraltar boys U16 come close but not close enough

Gibraktar U16 51-59 Malta U 16
FIBA Eurobasket men’s u16 division c
5-8 playoffs

The Gibraltar U16 boys team played against Malta in Tirana, Albania, competing for positions 5-8 in the rankings of Division C. Although starting on the back foot, having allowed Malta to take an eight-point lead in the first quarter (19-11), the Gibraltar boys, boosted by their victory against San Marino earlier this week, kept Malta within touching distance.

A highly contested second quarter saw Gibraltar gain a little ground, reducing the gap marginally to 22-29 by halftime, enough to provide a confidence boost and keep Malta on edge. Similar to their female counterparts, the Gibraltar U16 boys’ shooting did not inspire many positives, with a lowly 24% success rate in their 2-point attempts. This was in contrast to Malta, who had a 52% success rate for the same two-quarter period.

Gibraltar came out of the blocks for the second half in style, leveling the score at 29-29 before Malta responded. Malta retook the lead, giving themselves a four-point breathing space at 29-33, but Gibraltar continued to chase possession energetically. Malta managed to stop Gibraltar from adding to their quick flurry of points for a while, increasing their lead to 35-29. Missing two free throws and losing the rebound to Malta did Gibraltar no favors, as Malta added a further four points with two quick counters.

A timeout was called to stem the flow when Gibraltar needed to regroup after losing the momentum they had set early in the third quarter. Malta went on to a 41-29 lead, the biggest they had since the start of the match. It wasn’t until four minutes remained in the third quarter that Gibraltar scored again. There was a big effort behind trying to reduce the margins further. However, it was only after five attempts that they managed to grab some points, bringing the score to 34-41 with two and a half minutes left before the short break.

Having shown they could make a comeback from twenty points behind after doing so against San Marino, the under ten-point margin was not an impossible task. Gibraltar reduced it to six points, although the low scoring ratio did not provide an easy route to cut it further as they arrived at the end of the third quarter, finishing at 38-44.

The tense first minutes of the fourth quarter did not see any changes in the scoreboard until three minutes in, when Malta added another two points to their tally, with Gibraltar responding in kind. With the score at 40-46, there was still everything to play for. A beautifully delivered three-pointer brought Gibraltar back into contention, with an immediate steal in defense setting them up to be within a point with seven minutes still to play. Malta hurriedly called a timeout.

Malta responded with three points of their own, taking the score to 45-49. Gibraltar narrowed it down again to 47-49. Forcing a foul that saw Gibraltar turn over gave them the chance to try and level the score, but they were instead penalized as the ball went through the hoop. Gibraltar regained possession to try for an equalizer, but Malta held tight and timed them out to regain possession. A confidently taken shot from well beyond the semicircle gave Malta what was now a valuable five-point lead with less than four minutes to play. The same shot was attempted again with the same result as Malta stretched their lead to 47-55.

The momentum lost again, Gibraltar fell behind by ten points with three minutes left to play on the court.
They were able to cut the deficit to six points with just a minute left to play, but just as easily gave away a foul for free shots which nearly gave things away. Malta did get the ball back after missing their free shots and put further pressure scoring two further points to take the score to 51-59. With second left the score was to remain Gibraltar having come close but not close enough.