12:25 AM
Shweta Pandey
GREAT Britain staged a brave but unsuccessful fightback as they went down to Croatia at the London 2012 basketball test event.
KEY ROLE: Joel Freeland was the star man for Chris Finch's GB team - top scoring with 22 points (British Basketball)
British coach Chris Finch was delighted as they made a storming start to race into a double digit lead but they were soon pegged back by a team placed 37 places above them in the rankings.
Croatia then established control but the hosts' fighting spirit was evident as they rallied from an 18 point deficit to lose by just five points - 75-70 - at the buzzer.
Joel Freeland continued to look good for Finch's side, leading the scoring with 22 points, while Mike Lenzly and Andrew Lawrence added eight and ten points respectively.
Great Britain converted 82 percent from the free throw line but the difference between the teams was from the three point range, where they missed rested sharp shooter Nate Reinking, hitting just four from 23 attempts.
“I think we came out hot in the first quarter, second and third weren’t too good but we definitely showed we can compete in the fourth," said Freeland, who also impressed in their defeat against France on Tuesday.
“We brought it back in the final period, and it’s not easy to do that against world class teams.
"It was definitely better than yesterday. We’re learning all the time, we’ve only been together for two weeks and we have another two weeks to get better. We’re learning, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Elsewhere, China’s woes had continued as they suffered a 87-53 hammering against Serbia, Great Britain's next opponents on Wednesday.
Milos Teodosic led the Serbs with 19 points, three rebounds and four assists in a team-high 21 minutes, while NBA big man Jianlian Yi finished with 20 points and seven boards to lead all scorers for the Chinese.
France and Australia served up a much better game, with the former winning a thrilling 71-67 contest, inspired by San Antonio star Tony Parker's 27 point haul.
© Sportsbeat 2011
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