Great Britain's U20 Men lost their first game of the European Championship (Division B) competition to Belarus 69-61 on Sunday, but that does not stop them from winning Group C and advancing to the second round.

 

Coach David Smart decided to rest the tournament's current top scorer Devon van Oostrum knowing that any result would not affect their chance of advancing in the tournament. van Oostrum is currently averaging nearly 24 points per game and a tournament second-best 5.7 assists per contest.

 

Belarus also entered this final group game without a chance of advancing any farther than 5th to 8th place, but they came out firing against Britain and a big third quarter helped them to their first win of the tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

 

Leading 34-33 at the half, Belarus held GB to 10 points in the third and when Vitali Liutych hit a buzzer beating three the British never recovered from the 52-43 deficit they faced heading into the final period.

 

Liutych ended as the game's top scorer with 21 points while Alasdair Fraser led GB with 16 and Jesse Chuku had a 13 point, 13 rebound double- double.

 

Britain now have a few days off as the second round continues on 18 July. They will enter the second round with the runner-up in their pool along with the top two from Group D.