Basketballers toppled by Turkey in second qualifier after shock win over Greece

Britain’s basketballers could not maintain the upsurge in form – which saw them stun Greece in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers – against Turkey in Istanbul, writes David Oliver.

Marc Steutel’s team had shocked the top-10 team in their campaign opener, toppling the country ranked 32 places higher in the world standings 78-69 in Newcastle last week.

He said his side would not approach the game “with any air of arrogance,” and would “have to earn it by working harder” – and they followed through on their coach’s mentality early on against Turkey, “a basketball nation with a basketball infrastructure”.

Eventually his side wilted in the heat of Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem arena to leave the fourteam section finely poised after two games, but they gave a good account early on, tying the game 37-37 with the 16thranked nation in the world at the interval.

While Steutel’s side were defeating Greece on Thursday, Belarus had performed a shock of their own, but Turgreat key ensured there would be no second day of surprises, running out 84-67 winners, leaving all teams in Group B on one win and one defeat ahead of the next scheduled fixtures in February.

Britain are ranked 42nd in the world and have never qualified for a basketball World Cup, but, buoyed by the win over Greece, they began brightly and led after the first period, which included an 11-0 run inspired by Tarik Phillip – at one stage Britain led by 13.

Turkey responded in the second to level the scores at halftime, and in the crucial third Shane Larkin exerted his dominance as the hosts built a lead that proved unassailable, despite Phillip and Gabriel Olaseni combining to reduce the arrears to six points going into the final period.

An emphatic fourth, 24-13 for the hosts, took the final score to 84-67 and balanced the group.

Greece also bounced back from their defeat to win 77-67 against Belarus, who are next up for GB in a February double-header.

Steutel’s side are away in Minsk first, before the UK return and further qualifiers next summer.