England U18s Third Straight Win Boosts Top 8 Hopes

By Bradley Gains on July 26, 2015

England under-18’s moved a step closer to securing a spot in the next round after beating Switzerland 78-60 at the European Championships in Austria, on Sunday.

Karl Brown’s side keep their last eight hopes alive by inflicting a first defeat on Switzerland, with both teams now sharing a 3-1 record.

Kyle Carey top scored with a game-high 21 points while Calvin Nevill-Kintu (pictured) added 14 points and Carl Wheatle posted another double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Danny Evans and Luke Mitchell also reached double figures by adding 12 and 10 points respectively.

Mitchell and Wheatle both netted from downtown in an even opening quarter before Nevill-Kintu scored the final five points to give England a 15-12 advantage at the end of the first.

A triple from Aidan Gastaldi-Davies extended the lead to six but Switzerland responded to close within a single score.

England went on an 8-2 run to take control before Nevill-Kintu again finished with the final five points to give his side a double-digit cushion at half-time, 38-28.

Switzerland kept threatening to make a run with scores from downtown but England kept responding as Kyle Carey and Danny Evans netted instant replies.

Once again, the lead was cut to four before scores from Carey and Mitchell gave England a 52-44 lead to take into the final quarter.

Mitchell then capped a 7-2 start to the fourth with his second 3-pointer to increase the lead to 13 points.

England managed to keep their opponents at bay as Carey scored eight more points to take his tally past the 20-point mark.

Evans and Gastaldi-Davies then each added four points from the free throw line to take the winning margin up to 18 points.

England out-rebounded their opponents 42-32 and profited from 18 second chance points to claim victory.

Box score.

England play their final game in Group A tomorrow when they take on Estonia at 2:45pm (UK time) with Poland and Swtizerland squaring off at the same time.

Image credit: FIBA/Ville Vuorinen

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