England under-16’s fell to their third straight defeat in the preparation tournament in Riom, France after being beaten 87-70 by Poland, on Sunday.
Alan Keane’s side trailed by a single point heading into the final quarter, but were outscored 29-13 in the fourth as they suffered another loss.
Jacob Round top scored with 15 points after an improved shooting display saw him go 3-5 from deep, while Cameron Bett was the only other player in double figures with 12 points accompanied by five assists as well as five steals.
England enjoyed the better start and led by as many as five points in the opening quarter, only to see their opponents produce a strong finish with a 9-2 run to lead 26-20 at the end of the first.
An improved second quarter saw England re-take the lead with Round and Bett both netting from beyond the arc. However, another strong close from Poland helped them into half-time with a slender 45-43 advantage.
The gap between the two teams became even smaller by the end of the third as England edged the quarter 14-13. They had managed to keep their opponents scoreless for the first five minutes of the period whilst scoring seven points in that time.
Again, it was Poland who enjoyed the better finish to the quarter and they struck from 3-point range on the buzzer to go into the final quarter leading 58-57.
Poland broke clear with a 12-2 run in the fourth and the damage was done as England were unable to recover from a double-digit deficit before going down by 17 points.
The U16s are now expected to return to camp next weekend before another weekend is spent in camp in between friendly series’ against Finland and then Slovenia ahead of the European Championships, in August.
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