England's U16 Men nearly caused an upset over Classification Group leaders Russia on Wednesday but a one-sided third quarter led to a 68-57 win for the much bigger nation.

 

England were out of the blocks quickly on Wednesday, taking an early 8-0 lead and by midway through the first quarter they were up 14-4. A Jules Christian three gave England their largest lead of the game (12 points) but Russia cut it to seven points by the end of the period.

 

Christian opened the second period with another shot from outside and England's lead hovered around the 9-10 point mark for about five minutes. Russia, however, strung together a 10-4 run to see the period out and it was 33-29 to England heading into the second half.

 

The third period is where Russia turned the heat up. By two minutes into the quarter they had the game tied and with two minutes left they led 50-40. The Russians established a 13-point lead by the end of three and their lead never dipped below 9 points for the remainder of the game.

 

Theo Oghide had a great all-round game for England with 8 points and 11 rebounds while Joe Mvuezolo had 11 points and Jules Christian, 10 points. A good points spread for Russia saw shooting guard Alexander Gavrilov lead his team with 14 points.

 

England's next game is on Friday against the Czech Republic, a team they have already beaten in this competition.