U16 Men End On A High
Monday, 25-Aug-2008
England 56  Switzerland 53
England Under 16 Men sealed 11th spot in the European Championship B Division with a 56-53 win against Switzerland on Sunday.
Aaron Geramipoor and John Gould each scored 13 points as a strong fourth period proved key for Simon Fisher’s team.
England’s shooting woes from the previous night’s loss against Estonia were put behind them, finishing with 37 percent from two-point land.
Although they were again outrebounded, it only 39-37 as they gained revenge for a defeat earlier in the tournament against the Swiss.
Geramipoor finished with a double-double as he led the team in rebounds as well, while Point Guard Devon Van Oostrum had six rebounds to go with his seven points.
England started slowly, with Zivanovic converting an and-one, but a George Colwill trey saw them level the score going into the final four minutes of the period and a Gould score from the Land of Plenty sent them into the first break with a 20-16 lead.
Gould extended that lead with a single free-throw to open the second period, but a pair of Bosovic baskets cut the advantage to one and Zivanovic put his side back into the lead at the midway stage of the quarter with a lay-up.
A three minute drought at both ends of the court was ended by a John Stewart free-throw for England, but it was the Swiss who went into the locker room leading 29-26 after Koludrovic drained a buzzer-beating trey.
Switzerland pulled five in front with a pair of free-throws at the start of the second half, but a Matthew Clark free-throw followed by a Geramipoor lay-up made it 31-29 with just over three minutes gone.
The Swiss had the better of the period, and scores from Zinn either side of a Robert Loftman jump shot saw them open a 40-33 lead with two minutes of the quarter left before Savoy made the lead nine.
The England comeback started with a pair of Gould free-throws, and Geramipoor tipped in Van Oostrum’s miss before Gould sunk a lay-up on the buzzer to cut Switzerland’s lead to 42-39 going into the fourth period.
Gould continued his good scoring run by levelling the score from the Land of Plenty with the first basket of the final stanza, and England made it a 15-0 run as Clark, Geramipoor and Gould all converted to put them 48-42 ahead.
Switzerland fought back, and a pair of Petkovic free-throws tied the score at 53 with 3:29 remaining.
That proved to be the final time the Swiss would score, though, and Clark put England back in front with a free-throw 28 seconds from time, and the same player ensured they would finish on a high as he scored a lay-up with two seconds remaining.
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