Wheelchair Basketball Championships: Day 2 Results
The Great Britain men’s team put in a strong second-half display to beat Japan at the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Birmingham.
The Beijing Paralympic bronze medallists trailed 20-10 after the first quarter but rallied after that to run out 74-59 winners.
Jon Pollock top scored with 22 points, while Simon Munn contributed 18.
But there was a second narrow defeat in a row for the GB women who lost 54-49 to Canada.
Garry Peel’s side, who were edged out by the Netherlands in their opening game, started strongly and led 14-5 early on.
Canada pulled it back and were 27-24 ahead at the break but Laurie Williams, Louise Sugden, Helen Turner and Helen Freeman worked hard to keep the home side in it.
GB led by a point going into the final minute but five late points by the Canadians sealed the win.
The GB men were given an early scare by Japan, who saw Reo Fujimoto top score with 30 points, but once they took the lead through Pollock late in the first half, they were in control.
Two three pointers from Pollock and a couple of scores from Ian Sagar and Abdi Jama in the third quarter kept them ahead and they stretched their advantage late on to record a win ahead of Friday’s key pool game against European champions Italy.
Same Difference 