GB lose opening basketball match

Olympic Games Argentina 102 - 79 Lithuania Russia 95 - 75 Great Britain Spain 97 - 81 China United States 98 - 71 France

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Olympic Games Argentina 102 - 79 LithuaniaRussia 95 - 75 Great BritainSpain 97 - 81 ChinaUnited States 98 - 71 FranceBrazil 75 - 71 AustraliaLONDON – Great Britain’s men’s basketball team lost on their first Olympic appearance since 1948, going down 95-75 to Russia in Group B at the Basketball Arena. The host nation started in energetic fashion and led 18-17 following a three-pointer from Luol Deng. But Russia gained control and were never threatened after opening up a 49-34 lead at the half-time interval."We can do better,” said Deng. "We’re just not here to be here, we want to compete. We came out to win the game.”GB forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu said his team "can’t dwell” on the defeat."We’ll look at the tape and bounce back. We felt our half-court defence was good and they struggled against it,” he insisted.NBA all-star Deng led Britain’s attack with 26 points but GB head coach Chris Finch was concerned by his performance.