GB U23 3X3 SHOW CHARACTER ON LATEST STOP

Great Britain’s men and women settled for fourth and fifth, respectively, in the latest stop at the FIBA U23 3X3 Nations League in Katowice, Poland, on Thursday.

The men again had to settle for fourth following a heartbreaking loss in the third-placed game against Czechia.

Great Britain came out the gates strong in game one, dismissing Poland 21-12.

Eye-catching offensive execution, team togetherness and solid defence were all on display as the Brits never trailed against a tough Polish side.

Blake Bowman led a balanced scoring effort with eight points, supported by Veron Eze and Toto Fagbenle, both hitting five.

Eze got the ball rolling with an early double and despite Poland levelling the game twice in the early going, GB would not be denied.

A basket from Bowman gave his side their most significant lead at 17-9, and with 1:09 to spare, Louis Grante-Halliday sealed an impressive win with a two-pointer.

Their joy was short-lived as they lost their second game 21-9 to an eager Hungary side.

Bowman again led with six points, but unfortunately for him, shots from his team-mates weren’t dropping, and the Hungarians took full advantage.

Izsak Tarjan scored ten points as his side started on a 6-0 run and never looked back.

Once again, a third-placed game beckoned, with GB itching to finally break their duck after coming fourth in the last three stops.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, as Czechia sneaked away with a 20-19 win thanks to a bucket from Dominik Zak with 12 seconds left.

Bowman led again with nine points, including two doubles.

WOMEN IMPROVE AND HOLD HEADS UP HIGH

The women fell to fifth on their latest stop but showed great heart and fighting spirit throughout.

After a slow start, Great Britain pulled themselves back but eventually lost 22-9 to Israel.

Cameron Taylor-Willis paced GB with five points, as there was brief promise three minutes into the game.

However, a poor start saw Israel zoom out to a 4-0 lead, which was matched by an unstoppable May Revahe, who had 11 points and saw them secure victory with two seconds left.

Keen to put yesterday’s heavy loss to Czechia behind them, Great Britain faced them again, looking to improve.

And they did. GB was confident, focused, and determined to make life as hard as possible for their more experienced counterparts.

Ella Doherty led the way with four points, with Jade Mbam adding three. The latter scored the first basket of the game, but the Czechs countered with a 6-0 run to take a strong lead.

There was an air of positivity about GB midway through, as they executed their offence well, but like yesterday, Czechia were equally as efficient, hitting their shots when needed.

Monika Fucikova led the Czechs with eight points, and she scored the final basket with 12 seconds to spare to give the team a 21-9 win.