Malta’s bid to win an historic gold medal in the European Championship for small countries came just short as the men’s team lost to Andorra 66-63 in the final in Gibraltar yesterday to return home with a silver medal.

Paolo Di Fonzo’s team came into the title showdown in high spirits after winning all their matches in the biennial competition, including a commanding 89-68 victory over San Marino in Friday’s semi-final.

However, their task was anything but easy as they faced an Andorra side who have been the dominant force in the competition winning the title three times, including two years ago in San Marino.

The match was balanced in the first quarter with the Andorrans edging a tight opening 10 minutes 20-19.

In the second session, the Andorrans showed their class as they managed to annul the threat posed by Malta’s towering centre Sam Deguara and raced to seven-point lead at the interval, 41-34.

But the Maltese were determined not to go down without a fight and they produced a stirring fightback in the third session which saw them turn the match in their favour and a Steve Schembri three-pointer gave them a 51-48 lead with ten minutes to play.

Andorra recovered their poise in the final session and looked on their way to canter to a comfortable victory when racing to a seven-point lead with less than three minutes to play.

But Malta kept fighting and managed to reduce the deficit to just three points as the Andorrans hung on for a 66-63 victory.

Xavier Galera, of Andorra, was the game’s leading scorer with 24 points while Daryl Jackson topped Malta’s scoring charts with 19 points.

Despite the defeat, this was a commendable effort by the Maltese players who have thus achieved their best showing in the tournament after placing third in the last two editions.

Earlier yesterday, Scotland secured the bronze medal when they beat San Marino 67-55.