GB's women in EuroBasket comeback victory over Belgium

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Temi FagbenleImage source, Mansoor Ahmed
Image caption,

Temi Fagbenle's 26-point haul was her biggest of the summer so far

Great Britain bounced back from defeat to Lithuania with a fine victory over Belgium in their latest EuroBasket qualifier.

Trailing by five points with just 28 seconds left, GB roared back to level before triumphing in overtime 74-70 to put Sunday's defeat behind them.

Forward Temi Fagbenle scored 26 points to secure a double over the Belgians, who were beaten by GB 56-49 on 8 June.

The victory leaves GB well-placed to qualify for next year's Ukraine finals.

Impressive performances from Fagbenle and captain Stef Collins inspired an unlikely comeback in Antwerp, where the visitors were 41-28 down in the third quarter.

Head Coach Peter Buckle said: "It was a hell of a win for us because we got ourselves into a bit of a hole.

"We took some time to adjust to Belgium who were playing very well, but we got back to our game plan. It was a very good team effort and, as the game went on, we began to build more and more momentum.

"We were always confident in overtime and a big part of our success was players making free-throws."

GB are now guaranteed at least a second-place finish in Group B with five of the six group runners-up set to progress to next year's finals in Hungary and Romania.

They take on bottom side Macedonia at home on Sunday before the visit of group favourites Lithuania completes their campaign on 25 June. A win in both games would assure them of qualification.

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