Match Report

The Netherlands vs Great Britain (M)

November 25, 2021 by

Later in the afternoon, GB Men were also in action and recorded their second victory of the competition, winning out over the Netherlands 45-69.

Lee Manning shone from the very start, winning the ball to start the game – and this set the tone for a strong performance from the captain.

From starting the game off winning possession, to sinking a shot with 6 seconds left on the clock to end the first quarter, giving Great Britain a 10-21 lead as reward for their fast start.

The high quality continued to half time, with Phillip Pratt and Simon Brown entering mid-way through the second quarter to help shore up the game and fully assert Great Britain’s control. A successful switch, as the team extended their lead to 16-37.

Lee Manning scored a remarkable 18 points across the game, and also turned provider on a number of occasions, registering 2 assists.

The Netherlands were competitive until the very last, and finished the game strongly with a 20 point final quarter – but Great Britain were able to hold their advantage, eventually ending the game 45-69 winners.

Both teams are in action again today, with GB Women taking on Turkey at 13:30 GMT, and GB Men facing off against Austria at 16:45

Great Britain vs France (W)

November 25, 2021 by

Great Britain continued their 100% start across both teams with another two victories on Sunday.

Great Britain’s Women’s team made a strong start to their campaign as they eased to an 86-16 win against France. Captain Robyn Love led the team from the front with 11 points over the game, with Great Britain’s number 9 Jude Hamer top scoring with 20 points.

At half time Great Britain had already established a 44-12 lead, settling any early nerves with a professional display that saw Jude Hamer enter the fray after quarter 1 and immediately show her quality, winning a foul and converting the second free throw herself.

The theme continued throughout, with Great Britain taking a huge 49 points off the bench. Strength in depth allowed the team to maintain quality throughout the game, the likes of 2.5 player Laurie Williams and Joy Haizelden impressing with tidy play and some excellent shots to round off the scoring in the final minute.

The second and last quarters were both shut outs, following extremely disciplined defensive play from Great Britain, determined not to give their opponents any chance of getting back into the game. Ruthless in defence but also in attack, as the team scored at least 20 points in each quarter and did not relent as France tired later in the game, with a final score of 86-16.

Great Britain vs France (M)

November 9, 2021 by

Great Britain Men defeated France to advance to the European Championship semi-finals.

Now in the knockout stages, both teams started strongly, not wanting to fall too far behind and risk struggling to overcome a deficit. Great Britain nudged in front with a smart fast break layup from Lee Manning, but France soon pegged them back and snuck into a slender lead. The two teams then demonstrated some wonderful longer-range shooting, taking no time at all to warm up.

Gaz Choudhry showed class with a sumptuous 3-pointer to tie the game at 9-9, and then the introduction of Phillip Pratt and Simon Brown helped Great Britain make it to the end of the first quarter narrowly in front.

From there, the men only grew in confidence and 2.5 player Harry Brown impressed offensively, finding the net frequently to keep the game out of reach from the French. Brown ended up with 9 points, and was perhaps unlucky not to add to his tally. Just before the halfway point, Lee Manning aptly dispatched a pair of free-throws, and immediately followed this up with another driving layup assisted by Simon Brown. Brown then turned scorer to put Great Britain firmly in control, the score at 32-23.

An assertive second quarter did most of the work for Great Britain, and despite being pressurised by France, they entered the final stages with a 12-point advantage and an almost unassailable lead. As France tired, Great Britain did not slow their efforts, Kyle Marsh making consecutive 2-pointers before going one better with a wonder 3-point effort.

A final score of 81-56 saw Great Britain Men make it through comfortably to the semi-finals, and will believe in this form they can go all the way and add to their previous European titles.

Preliminary Round: Great Britain Women 54:73 Canada

July 16, 2021 by

Great Britain’s Women’s team displayed a resilient performance as they started their Tokyo 2020 Paralympic campaign with a 54:73 defeat against three-time Paralympic champions Canada.

Co-captain and assistant coach Maddie Thompson led the points scoring for ParalympicsGB with 11 points as the GB’s Women team played their first game together in 18 months.

Meetings between GB and Canada are always extremely competitive and the Tokyo opener – the fifth time the pair have met at the last five major championships – was no different with the efforts of the GB athletes not truly reflected in the final score line.

Joy Haizelden scored GB’s first points in Tokyo as GB made a confident start to the game, ending the opening quarter with a 14:11 advantage. With both teams pressing, it was a high-energy start with GB having their best scoring run of 10 points in the first quarter as they had success breaking down the Canadian side.

The second quarter was close throughout with both teams seeing their points total ahead on the scoreboard. GB remained in front at the halfway stage, their three-point lead from the opening quarter protected with Amy Conroy, Maddie Thompson, Robyn Love, Charlotte Moore and Helen Freeman all adding points to GB’s total in the second quarter. 29:26 was the half-time score.

Two points each from Love and Moore saw GB extend their lead to seven at the beginning of the second-half as GB started strongly, but then the momentum seemed to switch in favour of their opponents.

Canada’s Kady Dandeneau led the Canadian charge, ending the game with a triple-double, as Canada drew back level halfway through the third quarter. Canada pulled out a 10-point lead heading into the final minute-and-a-half of the quarter, but Jude Hamer and Joy Haizelden both scored important baskets at the end of the quarter to make it a six-point game heading into the final 10 minutes.

Knowing GB needed a strong start to the fourth quarter, co-captain Thompson led by example, scoring two baskets from range to bring GB back to within three points in the opening minute of the restart.

As Canada continued to add to their points total so did GB, but, despite a resilient and battling display from GB, Canada’s lead began to extend further, growing to 19 points by the time the final buzzer sounded.

It was a match of high-energy and high-quality with the opening Preliminary Round game in the balance until Canada began to pull away in the fourth quarter.

Despite the result, it was a gutsy team performance, with all eight athletes representing GB on court contributing with points, including 11 points for Thompson and eight points for both Moore and Laurie Williams.

The Women’s team will be wanting to bounce back with victory tomorrow when they face the hosts Japan at 03:15 (BST).

Preliminary Round: Great Britain Women 48:53 Japan

July 19, 2021 by

A final quarter fightback saw Great Britain’s Women’s team narrowly lose to hosts Japan 54:48 in their second pool A game of Tokyo 2020.

ParalympicsGB were trailing by 12 points heading into the final 10 minutes, but the GB Women fought to the very end, once again digging deep as they continued their Tokyo 2020 campaign, their first games together in over 18 months.

It was a close first quarter with both Amy Conroy and Laurie Williams sharing GB’s early points between them, scoring six points each in the opening 10 minutes. The scoring of Conroy and Williams and defensive work of the starting five helped GB have the upper hand on the scoreboard in the early stages. But both teams cancelled each other out as the quarter went on with nothing to separate the end of quarter score at 12:12.

Japan’s Rie Oajima scored the game’s only three-pointer within the opening five seconds of the second quarter and this seemed to spark a spell of Japanese points; their lead growing to 10 points towards the halfway mark in the quarter. GB did brilliantly to battle back to within four points at half-time as points from Conroy, Williams, Helen Freeman and Jude Hamer brought the score to 25:21 at half-time.

It was after the restart when Japan began to build a lead of over 10 points, scoring 16 points compared to GB’s eight in the third quarter. With the score 29:41 heading into the final 10 minutes, ParalympicsGB showed great character and belief to close the gap to the hosts.

GB’s top points scorer Helen Freeman, who also topped the assists and rebound charts, led the scoring charge, scoring 10 of her 14 points in the final quarter. The Watford native, competing in her fourth Paralympics, found her range superbly, and at an important time for ParalympicsGB.

Haizelden utilised her speed and shooting ability to catch Japan on the break to add to her and GB’s points tally, while two points from Charlotte Moore from outside the paint closed the gap to four with four-and-a-half minutes to go.

The belief was there and so was the momentum, but, just when the game was heading to a point where the result could have gone either way, Japan responded with two baskets of their own. Still determined and resilient in their efforts, the GB Women fought to the very end.

Maddie Thompson converted a superb fast break from Haizelden, but there was no late twist with Laurie Williams’ successful free throw with 12 seconds to go ending the game’s points scoring with GB losing by six points.

The GB Women still have two more games left in the Preliminary Round with the top-four from the group of five teams advancing through to the quarter-finals. Next-up for ParalympicsGB is Germany at 12:30 (BST) on Friday.

Preliminary Round: Great Britain Men 70:43 Algeria

July 19, 2021 by

Great Britain’s Men’s team began their Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games campaign with a dominant team performance in a 70:43 victory over Algeria.

All 12 of the athletes selected to represent ParalympicsGB in Tokyo played their part as Gaz Choudhry and Terry Bywater led the GB scoring with 11 points each but there were points spread throughout the team.

It was a sign of the strength of depth within the squad, which includes five Paralympic debutants, with 30 points coming from the bench – including six points for Ben Fox, four for Lewis Edwards, two for James MacSorley and one for Billy Bridge all in their first ever Paralympics game.

But it was the starting five of Gaz Choudhry, Harry Brown, Abdi Jama, Gregg Warburton and Lee Manning that provided a strong base for GB to build from after an opening quarter that saw GB hold a 19:12 advantage.

2018 World Championships MVP Gregg Warburton found his form immediately, scoring with each of his first quarter attempts to end the opening quarter with eight points.

The second quarter saw the unit of Terry Bywater, Ian Sagar, Ben Fox, Jim Palmer and James MacSorley deployed with Ben Fox scoring the first two of his six points early in the quarter. The experienced shooters of Bywater and Sagar, competing at their sixth and third Paralympics respectively, added to GB’s points tally during the quarter helping to establish a 12-point lead at the halfway stage (33:21).

GB continued to assert their control on the game in the second-half; utilising their speed on the press as they extended their advantage to 23 points heading into the final quarter. Success from turnovers was a particular success throughout the game, with GB scoring 28 points off turnovers.

Player-coach Gaz Choudhry looked as composed as ever, even with the added responsibility of taking-up a coaching role, leading the GB scoring with Bywater with 11 points, as he helped extend GB’s advantage in the third quarter.

The final quarter will live long in the memory of Lewis Edwards and Billy Bridge, not only did GB get their Tokyo campaign off to a winning start, but it was a quarter that saw Edwards and Bridge make their first senior GB appearance and, to top it off, score their first Paralympics points on their debut.

Edwards and Bridge were part of a GB five in the final quarter that included four Paralympics debutants alongside the experience of Terry Bywater, who scored a final quarter three-pointer to take him to 11 points for the game, along with six rebounds and nine assists.

From six-time Paralympian to Paralympic debutant, the final points were scored by James MacSorley who rounded-off his first Paralympics appearance with a neat finish to a fast break in the final 30 seconds of the game.

The Men’s team are back in action on Friday at 06:45 (BST) when they take on Germany.

Preliminary Round: Great Britain Men 64:63 USA

July 19, 2021 by

Great Britain’s Men beat defending Paralympic champions USA in dramatic fashion, winning by one-point in a tense conclusion to the 64:63 game.

It was a tense end to what had been an enthralling game to watch, ever since Brown opened the scoring within the first 15 seconds. GB had to earn their 20:15 opening quarter advantage after a 6-0 scoring run for USA saw the defending Paralympic champions open up an early lead.

Gregg Warburton asserted his influence on the game, creating two baskets of his own, as GB put their own 8-0 scoring run together to build a five-point advantage at the end of the opening 10 minutes, their 20-15 score line including eight points from player-coach Gaz Choudhry.

It was a performance built on a dominant and hard-working defence as much as their quick and potent offence. 32 defensive rebounds and 15 turnovers was their end of game stats with Lee Manning alone collecting eight defensive rebounds in the opening quarter as he was again dominant under the basket.

By half-time, GB had extended their advantage to six, eight GB athletes adding points to the GB total including a two-point basket from Terry Bywater which made the score line 35:29 just as the half-time buzzer sounded.

The third quarter was again close with intensity and discipline the message from player-coach Gaz Choudhry. The team didn’t let foul trouble early in the second-half affect their game and, just as in the second quarter, extended their lead slightly to take a seven-point lead into the final 10 minutes.

The senior players within the squad led by example with Warburton, Choudhry, Manning and captain Ian Sagar all ending the game with double-figure points hauls including important points in both the third and final quarter. Abdi Jama also contributing points – six for the game – in the final quarter.

As USA steadily closed the gap in the final quarter, a fast-break from the USA’s Trevon Jenifer drew the scores level at 63-63 with 90 seconds to play, setting-up a grandstand finale, and a nail-biting one for ParalympicsGB supporters watching on from home.

Harry Brown made one of his two free throws with 34 seconds to go after a brilliant cut to draw the foul giving GB a one-point advantage as the clocked ticked down towards full-time.

ParalympicsGB knew they needed to stay disciplined and defend resolutely. Gregg Warburton did exactly that producing a potentially game-saving block from John Boie’s shot with just over three seconds to go.

But as the final buzzer drew nearer it became even more nerve-racking with two USA timeouts in the final few seconds adding to the tension. Final timeout complete there was one last chance for USA to claim the win but Steve Serio’s buzzer-beating attempted three-pointer rimmed out as GB secured a thrilling one-point victory in their third Pool A game.

Preliminary Round: Great Britain Men 69: 57 Iran

July 19, 2021 by

Great Britain Men confirmed their place in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games quarter-finals with a 69:57 victory over Iran.

Terry Bywater posted a double-double of 18 points and 16 assists after a brilliant impact from the bench as Bywater, Abdi Jama, Ian Sagar and Lee Manning all ended with double-figure point hauls.

Both teams had spells in the lead in the opening quarter with five lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the game, but, after ParalympicsGB took the lead in the final minutes of the first quarter they remained in control on the scoreboard.

The early play saw Manning and Harry Brown linking-up well; Brown twice assisting Manning with excellent accuracy on the pass to find the dominant Manning under the basket.

GB worked hard in defence to keep Iran out of the paint with all 10 of their opening quarter points coming outside the paint. GB did trail by 12 points to seven with three-and-a-half minutes left of the quarter but six points from Gregg Warburton and a three-pointer from Terry Bywater led the opening quarter fightback as GB took a 20-15 lead into quarter two.

ParalympicsGB continued to extend their lead in the second quarter, Bywater continuing his impact off the bench, posting 11 first-half points and nine assists after his introduction two-thirds of the way through the opening quarter.

GB extended their lead to 11 points in the first half of the second quarter; Abdi Jama continuing to add to his points tally from the top of the key. It was a lead that was cut to five with just under four minutes to go of the half, but, just as in the first quarter, GB finished the quarter strongly. Three assists from Bywater to captain Ian Sagar added six points in the final 70 seconds, including two points on the buzzer, for a 40:31 half-time score.

It was a combination that added two more points in the opening minute of the third quarter as GB did extend their lead to 13 points at one point in a close quarter. 10-10 was the quarter score with Iran closing to within seven points of Great Britain’s total before Brown on the buzzer restored GB’s nine-point advantage heading into the final quarter.

Six points from Jama in the first five minutes of the final quarter and four from Lee Manning, as he returned to the action at the start of Q4, saw GB begin to pull away. Their advantage was extended to 19 when Sagar and Bywater combined again for four points to add to Sagar’s and GB’s tally.

All 12 ParalympicsGB athletes had minutes on court as Iran fought to the end. GB won 69:57 to join the ParalympicsGB Women in the quarter-finals with their final Pool B game still to come.

Bywater ended the game with 18 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds, with Abdi Jama scoring 16, Ian Sagar 14 and Lee Manning 10.

ParalympicsGB play Australia in their final Pool B game on Monday (30 August) at 09:15 (BST).