GB SHOW GRIT BUT FALL TO GREECE

Great Britain showed tremendous resolve but ultimately fell 77-67 to Greece in Sunday’s FIBA EuroBasket 2025 qualifier in Thessaloniki.

As a result, Great Britain ends the November window with a 2-2 record in Group F, whereas Greece remains top at 3-1. Czechia sits at 2-2, with the Dutch 1-3.

The loss in Greece, coupled with the Netherlands’ 77-70 win over Czechia in the other Group F game, means that it is all to play for in the February window, with Great Britain travelling to the Netherlands on Friday, 21 Feb, followed by a home clash with Czechia three days later.

“I would like to think our guys would reflect upon that with some really controllable areas of the performance and think we should have put ourselves in a better position to make the outcome closer,” Great Britain coach Marc Steutel said afterward.

“I think that’s something that we will reflect upon. Particularly with how many turnovers we had throughout the basketball game.

“But the overarching feeling from myself is that I’m proud of my team, I’m proud of how the guys compete, I’m proud of how the guys are consistently establishing themselves on the international level.”

Myles Hesson led GB with 14 points, shooting 45% from the field, with Quinn Ellis continuing his sublime form, adding 13 points along with five rebounds and four assists.

Gabe Olaseni terrorised the Greek frontcourt throughout, contributing 12 points on 4/7 shooting, but GB will look back and aim to keep the turnovers down ahead of the final window, as they turned the ball over 27 times.

“It’s obviously not the result we wanted,” Olaseni said.

“There’s a lot of takeaways, both positive and negative, but the main thing is 27 turnovers is unacceptable especially when you’re trying to win on the road in a tough environment.

“When we gather in a couple of months, I think we’ll be better for this experience, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Olympiacos veteran Kostas Papanikolaou, who missed Thursday’s game in which GB won 73-72, led Greece with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

A scrappy opening saw Great Britain fail to execute offensively, turning the ball over three times in the first three minutes.

This allowed Greece to take an early 6-0 lead before a basket from Hesson broke the cold spell nearly four minutes in.

As the quarter wore on, GB settled into their rhythm, forcing Greece into mistakes, racking up fouls, and missing open looks while remaining patient on offence.

They narrowed the gap to 15-14 thanks to a triple in the corner from Ellis with 1:30 left in the first.

The hosts hung on to the lead going into the second, but their composure was in disarray, entering team fouls three minutes into the period.

And Greece coach Vassilis Spanoulis was forced into a timeout as Great Britain had the momentum, capped by a zipped pass from Ellis, allowing Dan Akin all the time in the world to dunk it home with 6:40 left in the second, cutting the gap to 22-19.

And out of the timeout, GB managed to knot the game at 22-22 with an open three from Hesson followed by a gorgeous drive and score from Ellis for a 7-0 run.

Leading 24-22, coach Steutel’s side played confidently, dictating the contest’s pace to suit them, but Greece – roared on by a vocal home crowd – regained control.

Three consecutive turnovers hampered GB, allowing the hosts to rattle five unanswered points before Olaseni stemmed the bleeding with a bucket inside.

However, Steutel’s hand was pulled as he called timeout with 44.9 seconds left following sublime, crisp ball movement resulted in a score from Vangelis Zougris for a 38-30 cushion.

Greece managed to hold on to an eight-point lead at the break, which they extended to 13 with 6:38 left in the third, thanks to a three from Michail Lountzis, for a 47-34 lead.

Reminding his troops that they’ve been in this situation before, Steutel’s words in the timeout had an effect, as solid drives from Ellis, followed by a triple from Patrick Whelan, reduced the deficit to 52-46.

For stages of the third, GB showed remarkable resilience and no fear towards their counterparts, driving to the hoop at will with Ellis and Amin Adamu as the primary beneficiaries.

Great Britain’s resilience was rewarded thanks to deadly transition basketball, which led to a Whelan triple in the corner, right by the Greek bench, to make it a one-possession game with less than three minutes left in the fourth.

But Greece recovered down the stretch, as Papanikolaou drained a three-point dagger late on to restore his side’s double-digit advantage at 74-62 and put the game to bed.

“I’d like to think in 80 minutes against Greece, we’ve earned their respect,” Steutel said. “With how we play and what we’re trying to do. I would like to think that we’ve done that in abundance.”