Italy cruise past GB as Group D hopes take major hit
Great Britain’s FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifying campaign suffered a significant setback on Thursday night as Italy rolled to a commanding 93-57 victory at the Vertu Arena in Newcastle.
The visitors seized control inside the opening minutes and never relinquished it, leading for over 39 minutes as their defensive pressure and clinical execution overwhelmed GB on both ends.
Nico Mannion paced Italy with 19 points, five assists and a +26 plus/minus, steering an efficient offensive display that exposed Britain’s early defensive struggles – particularly in pick-and-roll coverage.
“I felt that our intent and our application on the defensive side early hurt us, specifically pick and roll coverage hurt us,” said GB head coach Marc Steutel.
“Offensively, creating high quality shots consistently that lead to high level scores… our pace, our tempo, our inability at times to finish plays on the glass hurt our opportunities to get out in offensive transition.
“I thought there were good spells in the third, where that was a little bit more of what we wanted to achieve.
“Credit to them, I thought they were really smart in their approach and understanding who we are and how we play and I thought they did a really good job of nullifying that for periods.”
GB shot just 36.4% from the field (20-of-55) and were outscored heavily in transition as Italy’s depth and discipline proved decisive. Carl Wheatle led Britain with 10 points and eight assists, while Akwasi Yeboah added nine.
Any hopes of keeping pace in Group D were further dented as Iceland stunned Lithuania at the buzzer elsewhere in the group, leaving Great Britain rooted to the bottom of the standings.
GB now travel to Italy for the return leg on Monday, where they hope to be boosted by the addition of star point guard Quinn Ellis.
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