GB Under-18s Edge Out Montenegro to Finish 7th

Great Britain Under-18s finished in seventh spot at the European Championships after beating Montenegro 70-68 on the final day, in Riga.

Alan Keane’s side had already secured a highest-ever Division A placing for a British men’s youth team having reached the quarter-finals by beating Finland earlier in the tournament, but overturned a double-digit deficit to prevail.

Nathan Robinson top scored with 19 points in the 7-8 Classification round victory with Kareem Queeley adding 14 points, while Hosana Kitenege had 12 points along with 11 rebounds and four assists.

Box score.

GB had a slow start as they faced an early double-digit deficit as their opponents opened up a 25-14 lead. However, GB put up 24 points in the second period as they battled back to close the gap.

A 12-4 spell helped tie the game at 34-34, but Montenegro had the edge at half-time with a three-point lead at 41-38. Their 10-point advantage was restored in the third with GB trailing 61-51 ahead of the final 10 minutes.

Once again, GB fought back and held their opponents to just five points in a strong run to take the lead on the back of another three from Robinson. Montenegro levelled from the foul line, but Jacob Round was on hand in the final minute to put GB back in front and the defence stood firm for the win.

Both GB’s Under-20s and Under-18s have retained their Division A status, while the Under-16s begin their promotion quest from Division B later this month – tipping on 9 August in Sarajevo.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix