Match reports for Wales and Sweden.
Game 1-Wales
England started the campaign against a fellow home nation. The game started pretty slow for both teams, with the first quarter ending 21-18 to England. However England soon got into their groove and began to command the game, taking each of the remaining quarters by at least 14 points to run out eventual winners. A solid bench performance saw the offence out gun Wales for the majority of the game.
Final Score- England 117 Wales 68 (England 1-0). Player of the game- Josh Mantle 21 points 9 rebounds 9-10 FG 23 minutes.
Game 2- Sweden
The first tough encounter of the season saw England face off against a very evenly matched Swedish side. It would turn out to be a very exciting game for both teams. England were fastest out of the gates led by Stew Chiara's 5-5 in the first quarter giving them a 29-20 lead. Sweden would cut the lead to 5 by half time with England still looking in a commanding position with good offensive flow and solid defence. England would push the lead back to 10 by the end of the third.
The forth quarter saw England almost fall apart. With only 9 points scored in 11 minutes it looked like Sweden would steal the game at the bitter end. With the score 80-84 England trailed with 9 seconds remaining, Paul Bennett would make his way onto the court and drain a much needed 3 for England. With FTs for Sweden and 4 seconds left England still needing a miracle. Sweden would hit both FTs, giving England 2 seconds to make a 3 to send the game to OT. Up stepped Mark Washburn, with a hero 3 at the buzzer to give England life after a miserable 4th quarter.
Into OT we went. Both teams going toe to toe for the entire 5 minutes. England managed to grab a short lead with seconds remaining, David MacCondy would round off a great defensive performance with a steal at the buzzer to grab England their 2nd win of the campaign.
Final Score- England 98 Sweden 95 (England 2-0). Player of the game- Mark 'clutch' Washburn 23 points 8-12 FG 3-3 3pt
Overall, great start for us in the U21s, i think there is room for improvement in terms of GS but with a few injuries in the squad this should improve over the coming weeks. Onwards to France next week.
Zeus.