GB U23 Men bag another win over Spain at Nations League Stop 5, Women fight hard

Great Britain’s U23 men bagged another win over Spain on day two of their second block of 3×3 Nations League fixtures.

The GB men and women again had a demanding day on Stop 5 of the tour in France as both continued to develop their 3×3 skills against experienced, talented opponents.

The GB Men – Flynn Boardman-Raffet, Veron Eze, Eljay Morris and Evan Walshe – went down 22-10 to Israel in their opener but then beat Spain for the second day running.

After bettering the Spaniards by a point yesterday, GB nicked it 20-19 after regulation time finished 18-18, Walshe sealing the deal from the line.

GB Men’s coach Krumesh Patel said:

“The guys here are learning to adapt but we’ve started too slow in the first games and improved in second.

“The aim tomorrow will be to start better and hopefully continue. The guys have done great and have already gained more wins this tournament than first one.”

Paige Robinson, Loren Christie, Katie Bennett and Ebony Horton of the women’s team again faced two arduous tasks, going down 14-3 to the USA and 18-4 to France.

GB Women’s coach Kenrick Liburd said:

“We improved on the defensive side of the ball today, against two of the better offensive teams in the tournament and played with a better level of togetherness. We must start to capitalise on the chances that we create tomorrow.”

The two 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. 

They will be back on court tomorrow for Stop 6 with the action livestreamed on the FIBA 3×3 YouTube channel and the Basketball England and Great Britain Facebook pages.