It’s set to be another busy weekend for followers of GB players in Europe with the clubs of all 23 GB athletes currently playing in Spain and Germany scheduled to be in action for the first time since the opening gameweek at the end of October.
It will be a busy couple of days for four GB players, in particular, with Terry Bywater, Gregg Warburton, Will Bonner and Lee Fryer all playing for clubs who will play two league games in just over 24 hours.
Bywater and Warburton will go head-to-head with GB Academy athletes Bonner and Fryer when CD Ilunion host Servigest Burgos at 16:45 (UK Time) on Friday in what will be the first of five British head-to-head clashes across the weekend.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday evening with CD Ilunion hosting Abdi Jama’s Amivel at 17:30 (UK Time). Bywater and Warburton will be wanting to build on their side’s return to winning ways last time out with their two games this weekend, while Amivel will be high on confidence after back-to-back wins with Jama scoring game-high points totals in both.
Bonner and Fryer will be back on court at the same time in Bilbao as they travel to Bidaideak Bilbao BSR at the beginning of what will be a busy period for the two Academy athletes with Burgos scheduled to have five games over the next 10 days.
Six wins from six games will be the target for George Bates, Billy Bridge and Phil Pratt when Mideba Extremadura welcome Iberconsa Amfiv to Badajoz on Saturday (16:00, UK Time). All three continued their strong start to the season as they helped Mideba to a fifth successive victory last weekend.
Amfiv’s only win so far this season came against CD Ilunion, and Lewis Edwards and Sam Mack will be hoping to cause another upset this weekend when they travel to the league leaders.
BSR Amiab Albacete beat Amfiv last time out to extend their winning streak to three consecutive games. The GB five of Harry Brown, Gaz Choudhry, Ben Fox, Lee Manning and Kyle Marsh were all pivotal in last weekend’s win, scoring 71 of Albacete’s 85 points.
On Saturday they welcome BSR ACE Gran Canaria to Albacete with James MacSorley’s side arriving on the Spanish mainland looking to maintain their perfect start to the season with three wins from their opening three games.
In Germany, Simon Brown and Ian Sagar will return to action for the first time in five weeks as RSV Lahn-Dill travel to Baskets 96 Rahden in what will be Lahn-Dill’s first game since the first gameday of the season.
Rahden have played twice since Lahn-Dill last played with one win and one defeat following their opening win against Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden. There will be British interest on both sides of the court on Saturday (17:00, UK Time) with Peter Cusack, Jake Robinson and Thomas Smith all on Rahden’s roster.
Helen Freeman will be in action at the same time for league leaders RSB Thuringia Bulls; they will be wanting to maintain their winning start to the season when they host RBB Munchen Iguanas.
Jim Palmer’s Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden have had a mixed start to the season with one win from their three games, and they travel to Hannover United on Sunday (15:00, UK Time).
Spain
(Games to be played on Saturday, 5 December unless specified otherwise; UK Time)
| CD Ilunion v Servigest Burgos (4 Dec, 16:45) | Terry Bywater (Ilunion) Gregg Warburton (Ilunion) Will Bonner (Burgos) Lee Fryer (Burgos) |
| Mideba Extremadura v Iberconsa Amfiv (16:00) | George Bates (Mideba) Billy Bridge (Mideba) Phil Pratt (Mideba) Lewis Edwards (Amfiv) Sam Mack (Amfiv) |
| Bidaideak Bilbao BSR v Servigest Burgos (17:30) | Will Bonner Lee Fryer |
| CD Ilunion v Amivel (17:30) | Terry Bywater (Ilunion) Gregg Warburton (Ilunion) Abdi Jama (Amivel) |
| BSR Amiab Albacete v BSR ACE Gran Canaria (18:00) | Harry Brown (Albacete) Gaz Choudhry (Albacete) Ben Fox (Albacete) Kyle Marsh (Albacete) Lee Manning (Albacete) James MacSorley (Gran Canaria) |
Germany
(Games to be played on Saturday, 5 December unless specified otherwise; UK Time)
| RSB Thuringia Bulls v RBB Munchen Iguanas (17:00) | Helen Freeman |
| Baskets 96 Rahden v RSV Lahn-Dill (17:00) | Peter Cusack (Rahden) Jake Robinson (Rahden) Thomas Smith (Rahden) Simon Brown (Lahn-Dill) Ian Sagar (Lahn-Dill) |
| Hannover United v Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden (6 Dec, 15:00) | Jim Palmer |
