Baker Gets 150th Cap in England Win
17th March 2006The listing was posted by ENGLAND BASKETBALL
Ronnie Baker celebrated his 150th international cap in style as he captained England to an 75-59 victory over Barbados on Thursday at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
The 36 year old played his first game in an England shirt against China in 1988 and since then has accumulated 879 points in international play.
Despite being held scoreless in the game, his contribution to the team is invaluable as England team manager Kevin Hibbs admits, “Ronnie has 50 more caps under his belt than anyone else on our squad. With experienced guys like him, John [Amaechi], and Steve [Bucknall] on the team, it makes all the difference to the younger players who are still learning the international game.”
One of those younger players, Andrew Sullivan, is quickly establishing himself as one of England’s biggest offensive threats. In Thursday’s win, Sullivan top-scored with 21 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and dished out 5 assists in his 12th game as an England international. Nearly half of those 21 came from the free throw line where he was successful on 10 of 13 attempts.
Julius Joseph supported with 12 points of his own.
The England teams both play at 7am (GMT) tomorrow. The men face the toughest test of their group in New Zealand and the women play India.
England’s two injured players, Andrea Congreaves (back) and Fab Flournoy (nose), are both question marks for tomorrow’s matches. Medical staff will make last minute decisions as to whether either player will be able to compete.
England 75 (14, 35, 46)
Barbados 59 (13, 29, 52)
England Scorers: Sullivan 21; Joseph 12; Amaechi / Martin 9; Bucknall / Flournoy 7; Bridge 4; Forbes / Reed 3