GB Futures basketball squad miss out on three consecutive wins against Lithuania by 2 points.

11 June 2012

The Standard Life GB men’s Futures just missed out on a clean sweep as Lithuania battled back and won 69-67 in a nail biting final at Surrey Sports Park on Saturday 9th June.

The Futures initially took the lead with a 112-105 victory on Thursday, and then overcame the Lithuanians again on Friday 74-62, heading into Saturday’s match on a high.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning stole the show in Friday’s game, securing a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead his team to victory. After the game Bryan-Amaning praised his team-mates for their collective performance: "It was a great win tonight, we came out tough. We executed a lot better and played defence much better than last night.”

On Saturday however, even a great performance from GB and Ogo Adegboye’s 14 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists couldn’t win them the game against the consistent Lithuanian side.  
Matthew Bryan-Amaning inspired a fightback for the Futures as he tied the game at 63 with a three-point play and with seconds left Andrew Lawrence had the chance to win it for GB, but his three missed at the buzzer and the Lithuanians took the win.

GB Futures coach Paul Mokeski focused on how far his players had come as they won the three-game series 2-1, saying: "We came together in a short week and the guys did a really good job, they played hard and pulled together as a team.. The future of Great Britain basketball is based on the Futures programme so these guys will be looking to be on the main stage with the senior team in the next two or three years,"