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GB DOWNED BY NIGERIA IN OT IN OPENER

Great Britain men lost their opening pre-Olympic warm-up 86-80 to Nigeria after overtime on Thursday night in Houston.

The game was tied at 70 at the end of regulation but Nigeria claimed victory with a 16-10 burst.

Without Luol Deng, Pops Mensah-Bonsu (rested) and Devon Van Oostrum (injured), coach Chris Finch frequently subbed players to evaluate his squad

Andrew Lawrence made his case for inclusion by leading Great Britain with 19 points but the Surrey-born collegian admits there is still room for improvement.

“It was a tough game,”,” Lawrence said.. “We had it down the stretch but we didn’t execute on the fast break and in overtime they had the momentum, but all in all, it’s a great experience for me and I hope to learn from this

After a sluggish start from both sides, Nigeria pulled into a 17-16 lead after the opening quarter, but GB responded and tied the game at 36-36 at half-time.

Both teams were shooting well inside but were struggling from three-point range, going o-13 from long range.

The third quarter saw Finch’s team take 58-52 lead going into the final quarter, punishing a tired looking Nigeria side who were carried by former NBA centre Ike Diogu.

But, led by a game-high 33 points from Diogu, the Nigerians hit back to force overtime before pulling away.

Eric Boateng added 13 points, hitting six of eight field goal attempts, while Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Joel Freeland each had 10.

Great Britain will play Lithuania on Saturday night in Houston before moving to San Antonio to play EuroBasket bronze medallists Russia.

Notes

Starters: Ogo, Nate, Drew, Clark, Freeland.

pic: wooller.com

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