GB U23 Men beat Spain in Nations League, Women have tough day on Stop 4
Great Britain’s U23 men pulled off an impressive win over Spain on the opening day of their second block of Fiba 3×3 Nations League action.
The two young men’s and women’ squads faced tough opposition on stop four of the tour in France after picking wins in the opening three stops in Israel in June.
Both continued their learning curve in the 3×3 format with the men picking up a victory from two outings and the women suffering a pair of defeats.
The men’s side, made up of Flynn Boardman-Raffet, Veron Eze, Eljay Morris and Evan Walshe went down 22-11 to a powerhouse France in their opener but hit back to beat Spain in thrilling fashion.
Scrapping back from 19-13 down, Eze capped an 8-0 run with a pull-up jumper for the winner against the Spanish.
Coach Krumesh Patel said:
“It was a good overall day to get us going again. With a new unit of players was important to figure out our strengths and also get back in 3×3 mode. It was a great fight and comeback win against Spain – now to build on it tomorrow!”
The women’s side – Paige Robinson, Loren Christie, Katie Bennett and Ebony Horton – showed spirit against a physical Netherlands side in going down 22-12, before losing 21-3 to an impressive France.
GB Women’s coach Kenrick Liburd said:
“Disappointing day at the office. We learnt the hard way that at this level against the top teams there is no time to feel sorry for yourself. Now it is about learning what went wrong today and taking time to ensure we get back to moving in right direction.”
The teams were entered as part of a collaboration between Great Britain Basketball and Basketball England to help prepare Team England players for next year’s Commonwealth Games and set about improving the GB national teams’ 3×3 rankings.
The two GB teams play in Stops 4 and 5 at the same venue tomorrow and Wednesday.