Malta men's national basketball team

the men's team

The Malta men's national basketball team represents Malta in international basketball. They are controlled by the Malta Basketball Association. Malta has been a FIBA member since 1967, and competes at tournaments such as the European Championship for Small Countries and the Games of the Small States of Europe.

Malta made their official debut at the 1985 Games of the Small States of Europe, where they achieved the bronze medal. The team was equally successful at the next edition. Then they did not win another medal again until the 1997 tournament. They surprisingly won the silver medal after defeating Luxembourg in the semifinals, and losing to Cyprus in the final. In 2001 and 2003, Malta joined the qualifying stages of the EuroBasket for the 2003 and 2005 editions respectively. However, they failed to qualify for both tournaments, as the team finished with six losses in six games played each time. Malta also participated in all the editions of the European Championship for Small Countries, but did not win any medal until 2010, when they beat Moldova for bronze. In 2012, they won the bronze again and in 2014, Malta lost to Andorra in the final 66–63 to take home silver. On 1 July 2018, Malta won their first official title after beating Norway, by the score of 75–59 in the final of the 2018 European Championship for Small Countries. Samuel Deguara claimed the MVP title. After this success, Malta decided to take part in the Games of the Small States of Europe in 2019.