The National Basketball Federation highly appreciated the performance of the men’s team at the European Championship among small countries. In the San Marino tournament, the Tricolors obtained the bronze medal, a similar performance to 4 years ago, Info-Prim Neo reports. “With a bit of luck, we could’ve won the competition. Anyway, our team deserves all praise, as we played against teams with professional players from European leagues”, federation chairman Vasile Sleagun told the press on Tueday, July 10. In San Marino, Moldova bested Gibraltar 81-62 and San Marino 88-63, but lost twice to Andorra. In the preliminary stage, the boys coached by Alexandr Sestopal were defeated 84-100 and lost narrowly in the final, score 74-72. “At times, we felt the lack of international experience, but I feel we deserved more”, said one the team’s leaders Vladimir Priscepnai. “The insufficient physical preparation of our boys cost us”, added Ivan Cropotov, Moldova’s best scorer in the final with 18 points. According to the leaders of the Basketball Federation, the training of the national team and traveling to the final cost about €50,000. “Most of the money was provided by an economic partner of the European Basketball Federation. It’s regrettable the state didn’t fund us. Because of the lack of infrastructure and money, out team can’t play at a higher level”, complained Vasile Sleagun, head of the National Basketball Federation. Seven teams competed in this edition of the European Championship among small countries.