Men’s Wheelchair basketball team claim historic silver.
ParalympicsGB played reigning champions USA tonight in a dramatic showdown on the court after reaching the final for the first time in 28 years.
Before the Paralympics, men's wheelchair basketball was not something many people talked about, but this time the team has taken hold of the nations hearts and held them throught the tournament and people converse about these amazing men and what they have achieved.
Their jouney to the final, seemed to be a breeze, flying through the group stages and an phenomenal win against semi-finalist Germany, allowed them to reach the final in a face off against reinging champions for the last two Paralympics, USA.
The last time the team got to a Paralympics final was in Atlanta in 1996, making this a 28 year wait for ParalympicsGB.
Speaking after the final Captain Phil Pratt said, “they are a hell of a team and Steve Serio was incredible, he’s one of the greatest to ever play the game”.
The team came out strong, but reigning champions seemed to have the edge and getting past them was a challenge. Despite many attempts on target GB finished the first quarter on 18-23.
The start of Q2 looked good with USA’s Williams missing a three-point shot, followed 25 seconds later by a 2-point shot outside paint by GB’S Warburton, assisted by captain Pratt.
The next 2 minutes were tense as GB missed three shots including a three-pointer putting them further behind 29-21. Manning and Warburton teamed up and managed to draw a few points back. Helped by team USA, who missed four shots on the bounce and before GB claimed a few points, Q2 ended on 31-38 (13-15).
Q3 started strong and within less than two minutes GB had closed the gap to 35-38.
However, between the minutes of 7:15 and 3:50 the activity was tense, for every point GB scored, USA were on their heels and for every shot USA missed, GB matched it. Q3 ended a disappointing 43-53.
Into the final quarter, was a nerve-wracking experience. With USA scoring first, but GB were quick to retaliate, and the ball was soon down the other end, for a GB 2 points.
It seemed that as quick as the ball was at one end scoring, it followed just as quickly down to the other end as GB found their groove and started their attack and defence.
Five minutes before the end and the score stood at 57-63, people around the country watching were lucky if they had finger-nails left. Bell, for the USA missed a shot which was followed nicely by Pratt, assisted by Warburton, who took a 2 point shot and scored.
Following a personal foul against Fox after a foul drawn by Serio, two substitutions were made for GB. A tense moment and breaths were drawn as Pratt missed a three-pointer at 2:40 to go.
At 1:49 Pratt made a great 2 point shot to draw the score nearer at 64-69. With the clock quickly ticking down, Manning was taken off and substituted with Bywater. USA extended the lead to 66-72 and at the moment, it looked like the game was over.
Until 14 seconds to go and Bywater got the ball, took a far out shot and as the nation looked on, wondering which way the ball was going to go, the cheers echoed as it went in for an extra three points, bring the score to a manageable 69-72.
However, it was not to be, as USA got a further point following a foul from Pratt, but the nation clung onto hope as with 11 seconds remaining Bywater grabbed the ball and wheeled towards the net. Throwing from afar, hoping for another three points, the ball went wide, leaving just four seconds of the game to go and no time to react. Making USA the champions for the third consecutive time.
The boys left everything on that court and have to be so proud of what they achieved. At no point did they drop the ball (no pun intended).
After the game, the boys spoke to our Paris reporter Lauren, Bywater said, “I think we're super proud of what we've done. The first final we made in 28 years, like this is something special, but it's going to hurt, to only lose by 4 points as well. I thought we had a fantastic tournament, beating top quality teams by 20 points plus.
When speaking to Bywater about being selected flagbearer at the opening ceremony he said “it's all been a bit of a dream, I’m super proud that, to be picked by my fellow peers, to carry the flag, how many people get a chance to do that. It was a dream come true. And to make the final day to make the final game, it's hasn't really sunk in yet.
Lee Manning, who was integral in getting many of the team’s points said, “we've got loads of things to learn from and maybe grow from the experience. I'm proud of the fight that we showed. I'm proud of the team”.
Abdi Jama said, “ we've had amazing guys that breakthrough, especially Peter, Lee Fryer, both of them were phenomenal, had amazing tournaments and you know, the future is bright for us and we're coming home, with a silver medal.
Speaking about the people behind the scenes Jama said, “this could not be done without the help from our family members back home, the country supporting us. National Lottery, for helping us here with the funding, none of this would be possible.
On the future of both him and the team Jama said, “you know for us to get this to point, to the silver medal, it means the world to us, it's another collection that we can add to but I'm not done yet. I'm coming for you guys”.