Great Britain Senior Men Face Early Exit in World Cup Qualifiers - Hoopsfix.com

Great Britain Senior Men Face Early Exit in World Cup Qualifiers

Great Britain’s Senior Men suffered more heartbreak as they were beaten 75-70 by Greece in Heraklion, on Sunday afternoon.

Alberto Lorenzo’s side must now win both of their final two games in order to have any chance of advancing to the Second Round of qualifying with Estonia picking up their second win as they defeated Israel.

Dan Clark led the way with 16 points and 11 rebounds with Luke Nelson and Gabe Olaseni also in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Box score.

A three from Teddy Okereafor capped a 7-2 start for the visitors in another bright start as they had made in Friday’s loss to Israel. GB led 23-20 after 10 minutes and extended their advantage late in the second as Nelson’s late triple made it a 7-point gap at 46-39 heading into half-time.

As the unbeaten hosts began to battle back in the third quarter, it was another late three from Nelson that kept GB ahead at 58-56 ahead of the final 10 minutes.

Greece edged back in front in a tense fourth period with Gareth Murray restoring the GB advantage from beyond the arc to make it 66-67 with 2:12 left in the game.

However, Ioannis Bourousis stepped up for the hosts and his three-point play proved decisive as Greece closed out the win.

“It was a really tough loss for us because we were running the game and we truly believed we could do it,” said GB head coach, Alberto Lorenzo.

“It was in the last minute that we lost the game as it was close all the way.

“We played a smart game, especially in the first half – the players made good decisions. But as the game went on, our decisions got worse and we made turnovers in critical moments which lost us confidence. But we must still feel really proud about this game,” added the play-caller.

“The difference was only the experience between the players. They did not make the same mistakes.”

GB will look to re-group ahead of the summer window when they host Estonia and Israel at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena. An 8-point win over Israel or 4-point win over Estonia would be enough to advance as long as whoever they beat also lose against Greece.

Group H standings: Greece 4-0; Israel/Estonia 2-2; GB 0-4

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