GB U20s Fall to Israel in French Tournament Opener

By Sam Neter on June 19, 2014

A short-handed Great Britain Under-20s squad suffered a rough start to their preparations for Division A European Championships this summer with a 75-47 loss at the hands of Israel at the Tournoi Mondial Tourcoing in France.

Israel jumped on GB early, going up 20-9 after the opening quarter, but a solid second quarter saw GB reduce the lead to 5 by halftime. The second half was a one-sided affair, however. Israel stretched their lead to 28 after the third period and never looked back.

Head Coach Doug Leichner refused to be deterred by the loss, vowing to come back stronger:

“Congrats to Israel on a well coached and played game,” he tweeted after the game. “They exposed our weaknesses but we had some stretches of good ball and will improve!”

Assistant Coach James Vear added:

“Tough 1st loss vs a very talented Israeli team. We will learn from this and continue to get better #GBU20NT.”

Elliott Sentance led GB with 14 points, while Josh McSwiggan was the only other player in double figures with 11 points.

Box score.

Things don’t get any easier for GB as they will look to bounce back on Thursday evening when they take on a talented France squad at 20:30 local time.

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