LATE HEROICS BUT GB FALL SHORT TO SOUTH SUDAN
Great Britain nearly staged the ultimate comeback but ultimately fell 84-81 to South Sudan in the opening contest as part of the Subway® Summer Slam at the CopperBox Arena on Thursday night.
With South Sudan leading by as many as 15 points with 6:46 remaining, the writing appeared on the wall. But GB took an eraser to that writing and turned the game on its head.
A 15-0 burst lifted the roof off the CopperBox and gave GB hope, but five quick points from Marial Shayok looked to have put the game out of reach.
Carl Wheatle buried a three with seconds left out of desperation, but it wasn’t enough.
However, GB coach Marc Steutel saw the positives from this outing against their Olympic-bound opponents.
“We had great positives, most notably our resolve, resilience,” Steutel said.
“Admittedly we did have some loose possessions, and it was on us, sometimes we weren’t connected and that’s going to happen with such a new group.
“But we did an outstanding job of coming back and showing character and I credit that to the leadership in our group.”
Myles Hesson led all scorers with 28 points on 50% shooting alomng with seven rebounds and six assists, with Dan Akin adding 21 on 9/11 shooting.
“We were down a lot in the second half, but we did really well to get it back and came so close,” Hesson said afterwards.
“Despite the loss, this bodes well for us moving forward, we played a top quality team who are tough and to compete with a team who are playing at the Olympics, shows our character.”
South Sudan was keen to get in its stride from the outset, as a lay-up in traffic from Carlik Jones gave them an early advantage.
Akin, though, found his groove as he carved his way through the defence to score eight straight points, highlighted by a thunderous one-handed slam in transition.
Leading 9-4 with 6:35 left in the first, and shooting 53%, it was a positive start from coach Steutel’s side against their very athletic counterparts.
South Sudan breathed a sigh of relief when Akin made his way to the bench as Steutel rotated frequently, but veteran Hesson took over as Akin took a rest.
Following a triple from Jones that gave South Sudan an 11-9 lead, the Birmingham man went ahead and scored eight points without reply as the hosts led by as many as seven before settling for a 21-19 cushion after one.
Great Britain did recover from a strong finish to the first from the African side to build their lead, and with under three minutes to play, secured their first double-digit advantage at 41-30 thanks to a 6-0 run, highlighted by a highlight slam from Akin.
GB’s sizable lead, though, didn’t last. South Sudan regrouped and finished the half with a blistering 14-1 run, capped by a lay-up in traffic by Jones on the half-time buzzer to put his side in front, 44-42.
The visitors’ momentum carried over into the third quarter, as quick passing, matched by solid execution, gave them a 54-46 cushion with a little over three minutes played, forcing GB into a timeout.
The break in play was aimed to slow down any rhythm South Sudan had, and it certainly helped as a bucket from Hesson, followed by a triple from Carl Wheatle, narrowed the gap to 54-51.
But South Sudan hit back again, as back-to-back triples from Nuni Omot, followed closely by a three from Bul Kuol, gave his side their first double-digit lead of the game at 63-53.
But a timely three-pointer at the top from Amin Adamu with seconds left narrowed the gap to 69-60 heading into the final ten minutes.
GB, though, couldn’t shrink the deficit further as South Sudan continued their onslaught, stretching their lead to 15 points at its peak before GB hit back again.
A mini spell from the hosts, taking advantage of hurried long-range attempts from South Sudan gave coach Steutel’s team hope. A three-pointer from the wing by Jelani Watson-Gayle made it a ten-point game with 4:50 left.
And it only got better for Great Britain, as a basket from Hesson followed by a three-point play from Akin highlighted a stunning 15-0 run to knot the game at 77-77 with 3:05 remaining.
Shayok put South Sudan back in the ascendency, and despite Wheatle’s best efforts, it was for good.
Shayok led the winners with 27 points.
Don’t forget that Great Britain’s women take to the floor on Sunday afternoon, as they take on Germany at the Copperbox Arena at 3:00pm. Buy your tickets here.