An exciting game in the U20 Men European Championship (B Division) 5th-8th place classification saw Great Britain outlast Belgium 101-100 in overtime on Saturday, led by some spectacular individual performances on both sides.

 

Big Scot Alasdair Fraser had a game-high 37 points, on better than 60% shooting, while his British teammate Devon van Oostrum was 2 rebounds shy of a triple double, finishing with 13 points, 12 assists and 8 boards. Louis Sayers also had 20 points for coach David Smart.

 

A stubborn Belgian side would not let GB out of their sights and even when they were down 87-80 with a minute left, they kept battling. Loic Schwartz drained a three, followed by Obasohan Ojomoh stripping Connor Washington of the ball and finishing with a dunk making it 87-85 to GB with 44 seconds left. Van Oostrum turned the ball over out of coach David Smart's timeout and Omojoh answered again with a lay-up to tie the game.

 

Sayers attempted a three to win the game at the end of regulation but it failed to drop and the teams were heading to OT.

 

Fraser's 37th point came with half a minute left in the extra session making it 99-95 to GB; Belgium then called time. Emmanuel Lecomte scored from outside after the timeout bringing his nation within a point (99-98), but Joe Hart was fouled and coolly sunk both free throws giving Britain the 101-98 lead with 14 seconds left.

 

Lecomte's next attempt from outside missed, and Schwartz's offensive putback wasn't enough to send the game into a second overtime. Schwartz finished with 26 points and 15 rebounds for Belgium.

 

Great Britain will now play against Poland for 5th place on Sunday in Sofia.