GB Under-16s Split Series with Belgium

Image credit: Twitter

Great Britain Under-16s bounced back from an opening defeat against Belgium to draw the series 1-1 as they continued their prep in Liege.

James Vear has confirmed his final 12-man squad for the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria from 10-19 August and GB had recently defeated France U15s 2-1.

Game 1 (Friday): Belgium 65-63 GB

GB U16s started the two-game series with a tough 65-63 loss against Belgium in a close-fought encounter.

Tomiwa Sulaiman top scored with 13 points in the narrow defeat with Vasja Pandza also in double figures with 11 points.

GB trailed by four at 18-14 after 10 minutes, but managed to cut the gap to just a single point by half-time as they went into the break down 26-25.

The gap returned to five points as Belgium took the third period 20-16 before a strong fourth quarter effort from GB saw them fall agonisingly short.

Game 2 (Saturday): Belgium 64-72 GB

GB U16s bounced back with an impressive 64-72 victory with a strong third quarter setting the platform for victory.

Mate Okros top scored with an 18-point haul, while Chris Feeney and Tomiwa Sulaiman added 13 and 12 points respectively.

After a 14-14 opening period, Belgium edged ahead early in the second before GB finished the half stronger to take a 35-37 advantage into the break.

GB jumped out to a 14-4 start to the second half to take control and they led by 15 at 43-58 by the end of the third quarter. The hosts rallied in the fourth, but GB had done enough to claim their third win of the summer.

Box score.

[Correction: Chris Feeney should be #13 and Louis Norton Cuffy #15 on the stat-sheet]

GB U16s’ first game at the European Championships will be against Luxembourg on August 10 with ALL games streamed live.

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