It’s set to be a busy Saturday evening for anyone following the progress of the GB athletes in Spain and Germany this season with 20 GB players expected to feature across six fixtures in Europe including three British head-to-heads.
Five of the six games featuring GB players are scheduled to start at 5pm (UK Time) on Saturday (28th November) with Terry Bywater and Gregg Warburton scheduled to take to the court for CD Ilunion an hour later.
In Spain, George Bates, Billy Bridge and Phil Pratt will all be hoping Mideba Extremadura can extend their winning start to the season to five games when they travel to Servigest Burgos.
All three British players have been influential in Mideba’s strong start. Bridge will head to Burgos off the back of his highest points total so far this season, a game-high 21 points, while Pratt is second in the league for total assists and in the top-10 for total rebounds. Bates has proved influential from the bench, with his 59 points placing him in the top-10 for total points.
GB Academy athletes Will Bonner and Lee Fryer are both on Burgos’ roster this season and they will be eager to return to action against Mideba in what will only be their second game of the 2020/21 campaign, and their first since the opening gameday on 31st October, due to game postponements.
BSR Amiab Albacete – featuring GB’s Harry Brown, Gaz Choudhry, Ben Fox, Lee Manning and Kyle Marsh – will return to action after last weekend’s game against Burgos was postponed. After a narrow defeat to Bidaideak Bilbao BSR on the opening weekend, Albacete have recorded back-to-back victories, a feat the five GB players will be wanting to continue.
The GB quintet travel to Vigo to take on an Iberconsa Amfiv side, featuring Lewis Edwards and Sam Mack. Edwards and Mack will be wanting to return to winning ways after their victory versus CD Ilunion two weeks ago was followed by last weekend’s defeat away at Fundacion Aliados.
It will be the same wish for Terry Bywater and Gregg Warburton when CD Ilunion make the journey north to play Fundacion Vital Zuzenak. Bywater has the best assists average in the league this season and is third in the same table for points, thanks to his weekend-high 33 points in CD Ilunion’s against BSR ACE Gran Canaria last weekend.
Both Bywater and Warburton will be hoping they can help inspire their team to victory after back-to-back defeats when they take to the court at 6PM on Saturday.
Abdi Jama will be high on confidence after his game-high points total of 20 points in Amivel’s win away at Zuzenak last weekend. It was Amivel’s first win of the season and Jama will be eager to continue his good form when his side hosts Fundacion FDI Las Rozas this weekend.
It was a positive return to competitive action for James MacSorley and BSR ACE Gran Canaria last weekend. After back-to-back game postponements, MacSorley scored 14 points to help Gran Canaria beat CD Ilunion to secure two wins from two games. They will be looking to make it three from three when they host Fundacion Aliados.
In Germany, Helen Freeman’s RSB Thuringia Bulls will also be aiming to continue their winning start when they take on Baskets 96 Rahden. RSB Thuringia Bulls beat Jim Palmer’s Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden last weekend to consolidate their position at the top of the table with three wins from three games.
Peter Cusack, Thomas Smith and Jake Robinson will line-up against Freeman on Saturday as the top-two teams in RBBL1 go head-to-head with Rahden winning both of their games so far this season.
Spain
| Amivel v Fundacion FDI Las Rozas | Abdi Jama |
| Iberconsa Amfiv v BSR Amiab Albacete | Lewis Edwards (Amfiv) Sam Mack (Amfiv) Harry Brown (Albacete) Gaz Choudhry (Albacete) Ben Fox (Albacete) Lee Manning (Albacete) Kyle Marsh (Albacete) |
| Servigest Burgos v Mideba Extremadura | Will Bonner (Burgos) Lee Fryer (Burgos) George Bates (Mideba) Billy Bridge (Mideba) Phil Pratt (Mideba) |
| BSR ACE Gran Canaria v Fundacion Aliados | James MacSorley |
| Fundacion Vital Zuzenak v CD Ilunion | Terry Bywater Gregg Warburton |
Germany
| Baskets 96 Rahden v RSB Thuringia Bulls | Peter Cusack (Rahden) Thomas Smith (Rahden) Jake Robinson (Rahden) Helen Freeman (Thuringia) |
