GB were largely competitive throughout, fighting back from a double digit deficit in the second half before ultimately coming up short in the fourth quarter.
Sacha Killeya-Jones led the GB charge with 19 points and nine boards, with Carl Wheatle (17pts, 10ast, 6reb) and Amin Adamu (14pts) also playing well.
Tomas Satoransky led Czechia with 21 points and 10 assists.
The loss was GB's first of the current qualifying campaign, as Czechia secure their first W in Group F. Despite the defeat Great Britain kept the final score close, giving coach Steutel’s side a chance to claim the tiebreaker between the two sides when they meet again in February 2025.
Tough one in Czechia.#BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/EqcWPYCbe5
— Great Britain Basketball (@gbbasketball) February 26, 2024
“It was a very hard-fought and physical basketball game.
“I’m really proud of our group, I thought that the game had runs and flows and I thought we did a good job of maintaining that, and trying to play a standard of basketball that we wanted to play, trying to execute a game plan.
“I was really proud of how my group competed, how we battled and I think I’ve said to our guys throughout this week that qualification is a long process. We understand that we are a very competitive group and coming here only magnifies that.”
“The guys fought from start to finish.
“We were executing when it really mattered and we were locked in. The guys were ready to go.”
📸 Frames from the half! 🔥
— Great Britain Basketball (@gbbasketball) February 26, 2024
📺 Tap into the clash against Czechia LIVE: https://t.co/X5YZXpSaBi#BritishBasketball pic.twitter.com/F0pfvytEy8
The other game in Group F saw Greece edge Netherlands 74-72, moving them to 2-0, following their previous victory over Czechia.
GB's next qualifying window is now in November 2024 when coach Steutel's side will play group leaders Greece home (21/11/2024) and away (24/11/2024).
Qualification will then wrap in February 2025 with a trip to Holland and the return leg at home to Czechia.
The three highest-placed teams from the group will then progress to EuroBasket 2025, and also earn a place in qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup.
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Main image credit - GB.Basketball/FIBA
