PANAYIOTIS Trisokkas and Alexandros Liatsos had 12 points apiece, while Aris Koronides added 11, as Cyprus beat Austria 65-59 to finish third at the international basketball tournament ‘4th Sofia Award’ in Bulgaria.

As part of their preparations for three upcoming games in the qualifying round of the European Championship 2011 Division B alongside Slovakia, Czech Republic and Switzerland, the Cypriot national team suffered a heavy 99-51 defeat at the hands of host nation Bulgaria in the semi-finals of the event a day earlier.

After their return from Bulgaria, the national team will take on Greece in an exhibition match in Limassol organised by the Cyprus Basketball Federation.

“We are all eagerly awaiting this event, a dream for every Cypriot basketball player. It will be a great experience for us to take on the Greeks, said Keravnos Strovolos and national team combo guard Andreas Pilavas

“As a kid I watched their games and I was their biggest fan, now I will face them on the court.

“We will give everything in order not to disappoint our compatriots. However, it is objectively just a very good preparation game for us,” he added.

In other news, the Cyprus U-16 boys and girls recorded victories at the U-16 European Championship Division C in Andorra.

After dismantling San Marino 114-43 in the opening round, the boys demolished Gibraltar 123-34 with Dimitris Aristotelous and Konstantinos Papakostas leading the way with 24 and 20 points respectively, while Viktor Ieronymidis chipped in with 14.

Costas Englezos’ ladies battled out a difficult 32-31 victory over Gibraltar in their debut at the European Championships. Stavri Socratou had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, while Maria Nearchou dished out a tournament-high seven assists.