U18 Men lose semi final by one point
Saturday, 18-Aug-2012
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England's U18 Men fell short at the semi final stage of the European Championship, losing to hosts Bosnia & Herzegovina <a href="http://u18men.fibaeurope.com/enDivB/cid_vxfp6gWIJ5oSOkc7ox4BA3.gameID_8910-77-A-1.compID_8aYeHlfuGF-mF5IqO8aFH1.season_2012.roundID_8806.teamID_278.html">64-63</a> on Saturday.</div>
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The result now means that England will play for third spot on Sunday, with a win still seeing them promoted to Division A for next season.</div>
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Though the final margin was as narrow as it could be, only a late run of points made it so close as England trailed by 10 with just over 3 minutes to go in the game.</div>
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England had started brightly with the first six points of the contest and led 25-13 after one quarter, but the hosts found their feet going on a 12-1 run early in the second quarter to make it a balanced contest.</div>
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An 11-0 run by Bosnia in the third quarter put them into a position of strength, but a Dwayne Orija triple and a pair of scores from Tyrell Isaacs made it just a one score game going into the final period.</div>
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England failed to score for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing their hosts out to a double-digit lead that proved to be enough despite 11 points in the final 3 minutes split between Elliot Sentance and Luke Nelson.</div>
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Nelson's three to make it a one point game came right at the end and despite Srdan Damjanovic missing a pair of free-throws for Bosnia, England were left with a full court heave as their last shot and it never threatened the ring.</div>
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Nelson was the star of the show with 33 points and 10 rebounds, with Sentance scoring 12 and Kingsley Okoroh scoring 8 and pulling down 13 rebounds.</div>
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England will face the loser of the other semi final between Finland and Czech Republic to decide the final promotion spot on Sunday.</div>