Great Britain lost their final first-phase World Cup qualifier 85-71 to Turkey in Newcastle.
Myles Hesson again led GB’s scoring with 18 points and Devon van Oostrum added 12, in his best performance so far as the team’s point guard.
Britain never looked likely to win but staged repeated recoveries when Turkey threatened to inflict a heavier defeat.
Nate Reinking’s GB team nevertheless advance from a three-team Group B – a result of Belarus being barred – and will now concentrate on their EuroBasket Finals campaign in August.
“We have a depth chart and an idea of who we’ll move forward with,” said GB’s head coach, who also has an assistant coach position with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA . “Some of those guys took their opportunity – there’s going to be difficult decisions.”
He added praise for Van Oostrum, who had not played an international since 2014 before this qualifying window. “He was very good – we were tight at the guard position this window so he stepped up and took the opportunity and ran with it.”
After falling behind 13-3 in an error-strewn opening, GB recovered with threes from Hesson, Whelan and Clark in a 15-2 run to take the lead.
Trailing 42-31 at half-time, the hosts had an explosive eight points from Kavell Bigby-Williams- in the third quarter and a scoring run of seven points from Hesson in the fourth to keep the deficit as close as 66-58, only for Turkey to again pull away with a 10-0 run. Bigby-Williams’ 12 points was his best in a GB vest.
Starting in November, GB, Turkey and group winners Greece will join Belgium, Latvia and Serbia in their second-round pool, with three teams qualifying for the 2023 finals.
Group B table
| Greece | 4 | 3 | 1 | 310 | 287 | 7 | +23 |
| Turkey | 4 | 2 | 2 | 307 | 286 | 6 | +21 |
| Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 3 | 287 | 331 | 5 | -44 |
