Skip to content
British Basketball
British Basketball
Home of GB Basketball
  • Teams
    • GB Men
    • Senior Women
    • Men’s Under-20s
    • Women’s Under-20s
    • Men’s Under-18s
    • GB U18 Men 3×3
    • Women’s Under-18s
    • GB U18 Women 3×3
    • Men’s Under-16s
    • Women’s Under-16s
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Policies & Regulations
    • Home Nation Boards
    • Partners & Sponsors
    • Coaching
      • FIBA Coaching Resources
      • WABC
      • Club Skills Guide
    • GB Officiating
      • 3×3 Officiating
    • Vacancies
    • INFORMATION LINKS
    • Contact
  • GBBasketball.TV
  • News
    • Senior Men’s
    • Senior Women’s
    • Men’s Under-20s
    • Women’s Under-20s
    • Men’s Under-18s
    • Men’s Under-18s 3×3
    • Women’s Under-18s
    • Women’s Under-18s 3×3
    • Men’s Under-16s
    • Women’s Under-16s
    • Basketball England
    • Basketball Scotland
    • Basketball Wales
    • BBL
    • WBBL
  • Media
    • Press Release
    • Media Accreditation
    • Media Photography – Film Policy
  • .basketball Domain
  • GB Archives
    • History
    • FIBA Archive – Great Britain
  • BBF & FIBA Player Transfer & License Forms
  • GB Anti Doping & Integrity Information
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

GB 71-85 Turkey: Visitors overcome battling GB to take win in Newcastle

3rd July 2022

Great Britain’s Men’s team battled valiantly against a strong Turkey side in Newcastle to close out the first round of FIBA World Cup 2023 qualifying, but just fell short against the European heavyweights despite a spirited effort from Nate Reinking’s side.

A 13-3 start from the visiting side in the opening five minutes led to Head Coach Nate Reinking calling an early timeout as GB created a number of good looks inside and on the perimeter but were unable to convert.

A trio of threes from Patrick Whelan, Myles Hesson and Dan Clark and some great work in transition situations saw the home side respond with a 15-2 run of their own to put Turkey on the back foot, but they still managed to end the opening period leading by two points (18-20).

A huge dunk from Gabe Olaseni at the start of the second tied the game up, before the number 0 put up a monster and-one play to give GB a lead.

Kavell Bigby-Williams with his own dunk fest for @gbbasketball 😤#FIBAWC x #WinForGB pic.twitter.com/PlfdMHhcRp

— FIBA Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) July 3, 2022

Turkey found some fortune from the perimeter as the quarter drew to a close and GB battled hard to keep pace, but with calls from officials going against them and the home side having no luck go their way, the visitors led by 11 going into the break.

Great Britain made several big stops to start the third quarter as they looked to close the gap to the visitors but had less fortune converting those forced turnovers into points and the deficit remained at 11 going into the final period.

An emphatic entrance to the game by Kavell Bigby-Williams from the bench energised GB further as they chased down the visitors’ lead, with the big-man contributing some incredible athleticism on both ends of the floor, but Turkey did enough to keep the hosts at arm’s length and see out the win despite a huge effort ant battle by GB.

Hesson once again led the team in scoring on his way to a double-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, whilst Bigby-Williams and Devon van Oostrum added a dozen points apiece in what were perhaps their best showings in a GB jersey to date.

The focus for the Men’s team now turns towards a busy end-of-summer period as the second round of World Cup qualifying gets underway in late August, before the team head straight to EuroBasket in Milan in early September.

Categories: Senior Men's
Anti Doping Information

Copyright © 2023 British Basketball
site by the naked creative

COOKIES
We use third-party tools and services that utilize cookies. These tools help us deliver a better website browsing experience. By clicking on the “Accept” button or continuing to view our site, you consent to the use of cookies on our site. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT