GB DOWN MACEDONIA IN OT THRILLER
A clutch three-pointer from Luol Deng sent Team GB’s Eurobasket qualifier against Macedonia into overtime. In the extra period, Pops Mensah-Bonsu got busy to help the Brits take the game 104-96.
Former NBA forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu delivered 27 points and 9 rebounds as Great Britain remained unbeaten in their European Championship qualifiers with a 104-96 win over Macedonia in Newcastle.
However Chris Finch’s men were forced to hold their nerve, rallying from seven points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime before they saw off their most dangerous rivals in front of around 2000 fans at the venue that will be home to the Eagles next term.
It should have been much simpler after GB opened up a 15-point cushion in the first quarter but the visitors eased back into contention to trim the gap to 47-43 at half-time.
The Macedonians maintained their push to go 83-76 in front with three minutes of regulation play left but the hosts rallied back from the brink, Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng hitting a three-pointer with 6 seconds left that forced an extra period at 87-87.
And after the lead changed hands four times, Mensah-Bonsu scored six points in quick succession to spark a decisive burst that killed off Macedonia for good, with Finch again rewarded from another series of clutch performances from captain Andrew Sullivan and Nate Reinking.
“For most of the game, even when we were down, I felt we were controlling the game,” said Finch. “We lost our discipline a bit on defence in the third quarter. There was some tiredness. We tried to change things. Our rhythm went down a bit. Sometimes, when you go 6 or 7 down, you feel you have no response but when we called time out, we felt we had a response. You have to make big plays and we were able to do that.”
Below: Pops’ post-game reaction, as told to his sister, Benny:
Deng added 23 points and 11 rebounds for GB, who visit Bosnia – who lost 74-70 in Hungary – on Wednesday.
Do you like our work?
We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.
We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.
We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.
If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.
We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.
0 comments