Scotland Overcome England in Commonwealth Games Opener

Image credit: Pete Simmons

Scotland produced a strong display to defeat England 65-78 in the Commonwealth Games opener, in Townsville.

Gareth Murray starred with 18 points, while Kieron Achara added 15 points and 8 rebounds with Mike Vigor scoring 14.

For England, Shane Walker had a team-high of 17 points with Kofi Josephs also in double figures with 14.

Box score.

Murray – who competed 12 years ago in Melbourne opened the scoring with a three and added a second to put Scotland up 10-14. However, Shane Walker made an instant impact off the bench with seven straight including a four-point play with England edging the opening period, 19-17.

Scotland used an early burst in the second to take control before England responded with a 10-3 run to edge back ahead. Murray then closed the half with an and-1 to make it 32-35 in his side’s favour.

The lead was extended to nine points – the largest of the game – at 36-45 with Scotland in the ascendancy, but Josephs’ eight-point blitz including a deep three at the buzzer helped cut the gap to a single point as England trailed 48-49 ahead of the final 10 minutes.

However, they were unable to take the lead as Scotland continued to protect their advantage and an impressive burst inspired from Vigor helped extend the gap to beyond double digits at 59-73. That would prove decisive as Scotland were able to wrap up a convincing victory.

Notes

– Basketball returns to the Commonwealth Games for the first time since 2006
– England won bronze at the last tournament in Melbourne, Victoria
– Scotland Head Coach Rob Beveridge was the AC when Australia won Gold 12 years ago
– Callum Jones, Adam Thoseby, Orlan Jackman, Andy Thomson & Rob Gilchrist started for England
– Scotland went with a starting five of Jonny Bunyan, Fraser Malcolm, Gareth Murray, Ali Fraser & Kieron Achara
– The top 2 in Pool B advance to the Qualifying Finals – facing the bottom two from Pool A
– England face India in their next game, Scotland take on Cameroon
– Pool A features hosts Australia along with New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria.

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