GB MEN SPLIT OPENING DAY OF FIBA 3X3 EUROPE CUP QUALIFIER
Great Britain’s men went 1-1 on the opening day of the FIBA 3X3 Europe Cup Qualifiers in Bucharest, Romania on Saturday (15 June).
The team of Ashley Hamilton, Hafeez Abdul, Evan Walshe and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye battled hard in a physical clash with top seeds Latvia but lost before bouncing back to beat hosts Romania in a back-and-forth slugfest.
“It’s great to be back competing on the international stage, and basically gaining that experience and getting back into the swing of how basketball is played at this level,” said Great Britain 3X3 head coach Julius Joseph.
“The guys have adapted really well. We played a really tough game in the first game against Latvia, the defending Olympic champions and we gave them a really close game, but I think the experience showed through.
“We made the necessary adjustments, and of course this is a learning process and that’s what we did for the second game. We put out a better performance, kept pushing, kept growing and we just want to keep getting better.”
Great Britain enjoyed an early lead and kept the game close for most of the match against reigning Olympic 3X3 gold medalists Latvia. Still, they faded towards the end, falling to a 21-15 defeat in their opening game on Saturday.
Hamilton and Lautier-Ogunleye scored the first points of the game to give GB a 2-0 lead, and when Latvia racked up quick fouls, things looked promising.
However, the Latvians’ skill set and overall experience showed. Despite a physical contest in which both teams reached the maximum six-foul limit with 4:46 left, Latvia found joy from two-point range, hitting two of their first five attempts, whereas GB settled for points under the basket.
Evan Walshe found numerous ways to punish the defence with sublime reverse lay-ups under pressure. However, GB’s counterparts found comfort beyond the arc, hitting six two-pointers overall, reaching the game-winning 21-point mark with 2:06 to spare.
Walshe paced GB with six points. Francis Lacis hit four two-pointers for a game-high nine points for Latvia.
It was a good showing against the number one ranked team in the FIBA 3X3 Europe Cup Qualifiers, but Great Britain needed to get themselves out of a hole against Romania.
That hole nearly got deeper as GB’s seemingly comfortable 13-7 lead turned all square at 16-16 with 1:50 left, and nerves were settling in.
However, Lautier-Ogunleye hit four straight points as part of a 6-0 finish to give Julius Joseph’s side a much-needed 22-16 victory.
Lautier-Ogunleye had 11 points to lead all scorers. Hamilton added six for the winners.
Great Britain’s last Pool A game against Slovenia tips off at 11:15 am BST tomorrow (Sunday). Catch the game on the FIBA 3X3 YouTube channel.