Great Britain defeated in opening EuroBasket match

Dan Clark and Gabe Olaseni - the latter making his major championship debut - led the British charge with 41 points between them, enabling Great Britain to lead 26-24 after the first quarter.

Belgium rallied in the second quarter to lead 54-53 at half-time as they upped their game on court.

It was Great Britain, however, that started the second half the brightest, with a 10-1 run that gave real hope for the rest of the game.

But Belgium's Sam Van Rossom single-handedly orchestrated an 18-4 run to end the third quarter, before they eventually downed their opponents.

Great Britain will next face co-hosts Turkey on Saturday night.

"In the third quarter, we got it to an eight point lead and got a couple of possessions – one where we left one of their better shooters and gave up a three, and then had a turnover for another three – so an eight point lead went to two,” head coach Joe Prunty said.

"There were a lot of little plays throughout the game which made a big difference in the final score.

"Offensively I liked our ball movement – we took care of the ball with 19 assists and six turnovers. We played well well on that end.

"On the other end, the three hurt us – Gillet was really good. His quick release. We talked about him. And we go through the tournament, you have to account of things guys do.

"The 19 offensive rebounds hurt. And then you've got to find a way to keep them off the line – 37 free throws is too many. Each possession is going to count.”

Sportsbeat 2017