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.