U20 Men: GB 60-74 France

GB U20 Men fell 60-74 to France in their second group game of the European Championships. The result leaves Karl Brown’s team bottom of Group A, with Montenegro to play in the final group game tomorrow.

Kareem Queeley (16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) got the first basket of the game, followed by Romario Spence (13 points, 7 rebounds) as GB started the game with a four-point streak. France opened their account through Ivan Fevrier and after Round was judged to have fouled during a block, they added one from the free throw line.

Kanye Henry (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) added the first three-pointer of the game as he extended GB’s lead to six from the wing, and although Queeley was unable to add to the advantage from the free throw line, GB held the gap as France were forced to call a time out with 4:06 left in the first.

GB’s lead was extended to eight through Queeley before France finally found the bucket from outside the arc, sinking a buzzer-beater from the wing. Spence netted his own three-pointer, again from the wing, but France began to narrow the gap afterwards as a 6-0 streak made it a two-point game. Two points was the margin that GB maintained for the rest of the quarter. 16-14.

France tied the game 16-16 early in the second and they took the lead for the first time shortly afterwards through Dylan Affo Mama. After a scoreless few minutes, France extended their streak to six and then eight points. With GB yet to score in the period, Head Coach Karl Brown called a time out with 6:37 left on the clock.

The time out didn’t have the desired effect for GB as France found the basket twice more, opening up a double-digit advantage. A layup from Spence broke France’s streak, but it did little to change the fortunes of GB as Quentin Ruel netted a three-pointer for the French.

Jacob Round shot two for two from the free throw, the start of a six-point streak for GB as they looked for a way back into the game. A free throw and lay up from 7 followed, with a three-pointer from France in between.

With their advantage cut back to just five points, France hit back-to-back three-pointers late in the quarter, ending the half up by eleven. 27-38.

France opened the second half scoring through Calvin Hippolyte but Jacob Round quickly replied to get GB’s tally started. Dylan Affo Mama netted the game’s first dunk after a steal in what was a low scoring start to the third. Minutes later Affo Mama added an and one for France as he took his personal tally to 18 points for the game.

Kareem Queeley found space to dunk after some great hustle from Hosana Kitenge to get the assist. The play sparked some life into GB, with the team recording a six-point streak which forced France to take a time out.

GB were the better side throughout the third, closing the gap briefly to seven, however the French held on to the advantage and ended the third up by ten. 48-58.

It wasn’t until 2:39 into the fourth that a basket was scored, with France’s Ludovic Beyhurst adding two from the free throw line. Kareem Queeley replied with two for GB but Beyhurst found the basket again to extend France’s lead to 12 with just over six minutes to play.

A three-point jump shot from Kanye Henry reduced the deficit to nine points for GB. Buckets from Queeley and Robinson followed but both were cancelled out by France as they battled to maintain their advantage. Harris reduced the advantage to seven late in the quarter but France finished strongly to claim the victory. Final score 60-74.