France end GB winning streak
11 October 2009by Stephanie Gagne
The listing was posted by WheelPower - British Wheelchair Sport - News
Great Britain lost their first game in the European Championships tonight in Adana, Turkey, losing a close game to France 71 – 66. The win was well deserved by the French who outplayed a very sluggish and error ridden Great Britain team.
France led from the start and dominated the first quarter to lead 17 – 9 at quarter time. Great Britain shot a very disappointing 26% from the floor in the first quarter and turned the ball over 9 times with some poor passing and horrible decision making.
After a ‘spray’ at quarter time from Coach Murray Treseder, Great Britain responded well, to dominate the second quarter 23 – 5 and open up a 10 point half time margin. (Leading scorer first half was Jon Pollock with 15 points and 5 assists whilst Ian Sagar had 8 points and 11 rebounds.)
The third quarter was a mirror image of the first quarter with Great Britain missing numerous scoring opportunities and the French, largely through Deregnaucourt who scored 17 third quarter points, gained the lead 49 – 45 at three quarter time.
In the last quarter, the French got the margin out to 8 points several times but Great Britain narrowed that to 4 points each time. Some critical misses by the Great Britain high point players, who failed to convert, proved significant in the end with the French running out winners 71 – 66.
Great Britain’s leading players were:
Jon Pollock with 27 points and 8 rebounds
Ian Sagar 18 points and 15 rebounds.
France were best scored by Deregnaucourt with 28 points and 10 rebounds, Mehiaoui with 17 points and 8 assists.
Great Britain shot the ball at 47% compared to the French 45%.
Great Britain’s 19 turnovers proved critical as they turned over the ball at crucial times. Significantly for Great Britain, Terry Bywater (4/15 from the floor) & Simon Munn’s (1/7 from the floor) 2 points, in what was probably his lowest scoring game in his 20 year career, failed to convert on many open scoring opportunities.
Great Britain’s Head Coach, Murray Treseder said, “The team had been outplayed by the French who had played an excellent game. I am bitterly disappointed with the squad’s performance tonight. However, tomorrow’s another day, as the team face Sweden to determine final placing in their group and await a likely quarter final against either Germany or Italy.”
Catch this game on dartfish.tv/gbwba