The girls of the same category won the bronze a week ago, but the lads went two steps further, winning the gold, and winning all their games, five in all, in the process. Not only that, but the wins were all handsome ones.

The final was the same, as Gibraltar had no answer to the Maltese threat, and even when Samuel Deguara was on the bench, the visitors couldn't buck up their play, to draw nearer to their opponents.

Deguara finished up as the best scorer of the game, and of the whole tournament in fact, netting a total of 136 points. Malta had other aces up their sleeves, as Nigel Sultana and Tevin Falzon grabbed more points, and JP Schembri came up with a poker of treys throughout the match. Gibraltar's score was the lowest conceded by the Maltese in all five games.

Malta raced into an opening 10-0 run, with Schembri's first triple. Gibraltar began to reply, but the locals had more treys, by Schembri and Falzon, as they had already gone into a double figure lead after the first session. In the second quarter Gibraltar did not concede so many points, but their attack suffered also, as the Maltese continued to increase their lead, through Deguara and Sultana. At the interval Gibraltar had fallen behind, at 19-39.

After the break the visitors were shut out for nearly eight minutes, as Malta amassed a strong 17-0 run, with more treys by Schembri and Falzon, and with Deguara spending more time on the bench.

Gibraltar recovered towards the end of the period, ending on a 7-2 run, their best throughout the match, and a Jamie Sercombe trey, but they were far behind, with the game already sewn up by the Maltese.

In the final session Gibraltar tried to make the score a more respectable one, but after Schembri's fourth trey, the Maltese made up another 9-1 run. That was the signal for the remaining bench players to enter the fray.

They also rose to the occasion, as they managed to win the last period, and put their names on the score sheet, as the entire Maltese side was given a standing ovation at the end of the match.

The presentations were made by the FIBA Commissioner, John Goncalves, and the MBA president, Mag, Antonio Mizzi, as Samuel Deguara received the winner's trophy.

Malta: 3 D. Bugeja, 13 JP SChembri, 2 E. Bonello, C. Pereira, 2 G. Cuschieri, 15 N. Sultana, 10 T. Falzon, 3 T. Paris, 3 A. Axiaq, M. Giusti, 3 R. Galea, 22 S. Deguara

Gibraltar: 3 J. Sercombe, R. Balestrino, B. Power, 6 A. Yeats, 8 N. Gracia, 1 K. Sercombe, J. Saez, 4 J. Lazares, 13 C. McCann, D. Moreno, 1 J. Nogoera, 2 D. Aston-Fox

Other results: 3rd place. Andorra 76, Moldova 71. 5th place 105, San Marino 81