GB U20s Fall to Defeat Against Belgium

GB under-20s suffered an 80-74 defeat at the hands of Belgium in their second game at the EuroHopes Tournament in Spain, on Saturday.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye again top scored with a 20-point haul from the bench as GB played without captain Luke Nelson for the second day in a row.

Jules Dang Akodo (pictured) weighed in with 14 points and dished out four assists, while Mo Soluade added 13 points and yesterday’s MVP Kavell Bigby-Williams had 9 points and six rebounds.

An 11-0 run in the opening quarter allowed Belgium to seize the initiative early on and they opened up a 24-15 advantage at the end of the first.

GB enjoyed the better of the next two periods, edging the second quarter to go into half-time trailing 41-37 before further reducing the deficit by the end of the third with the score now 63-57.

Midway through the final quarter, Douglas Leichner’s side had closed to within five points, but they were unable to make it two wins out of two as Belgium held on to record an 80-74 victory.

GB struggled with their free throws after making 13 of 26 attempts at the line, whilst also shooting 26% from distance going 5 of 19.

Box score.

The same starting five was used in the absence of Nelson with Leichner again going with Mo Soluade, McSwiggan, Dang Akodo, Bigby-Williams and Aaron Menzies.

Tough loss to a very good and well organised Belgium team. Time to stay positive and stay together, Spain tomorrow at 12 #GBU20s #2FeetIn

— Coach Vear (@CoachVear) June 27, 2015

GB round off the preparation tournament with their final game against Spain tomorrow (11am UK tip).

Image credit: GB Basketball/Ville Vuorinen

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