GB Suffer Second Half Collapse vs France

By Sam Neter on July 7, 2012

Despite a dominant first half, Great Britain fell 79-74 to France on Saturday night in Orleans, as they continue to look for their first win of the summer.

GB led 43-25 at half-time and appeared firmly in control but a fired up French side came storming back in the third and stole the game in the fourth to stun GB.

Head coach Chris Finch commented after the game:

“We played well and to be honest we played well overall and we have gone a few steps forward now building up to the Olympics.

“We played good basketball against a world quality opponent but we didn’t respond well when the game got ugly in the second half but it’s a great experience for these guys and we are still trying to grow together as a team.

“We have plenty of games to play yet against strong opposition so these guys are well on the way to being fully prepared for the Games.”

Luol Deng led GB with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Nate Reinking and Mike Lenzly added 11 each, whilst Dan Clark and Pops Mensah-Bonsu finished with 8 each. Boris Diaw and Yakhouba Diaware led France with 14 points a piece.

Things don’t get any easier for Finch’s side as they face Spain on Monday.

Box score.

Did you catch the game? Thoughts?

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