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A 14^th place finish was enough for Scotland’s under 18 Men to achieve the country’s best ever result at the European Championships, Division B.

An outstanding 70-45 win over Luxembourg on Saturday saw Scotland go one better on last summer’s excellent 16^th placing and move into the 13-14^th playoff versus Hungary.

Having beaten Hungary in pool play hopes were high but Hungary produced an excellent performance to win 55-84.

Against Luxemburg, Scotland used a whopping 64-34 rebound advantage to dominate possession. Good discipline and passing were again evident with 21 assists on 30 made baskets.

Alistair Fraser was simply dominant with 33 points (16/24 shots) and 20 rebounds.

Against Hungary, the rebounds advantage from the previous day was flipped to 47-30 to Hungary’s advantage as Scotland shot only 33% compared to their opponents hot shooting at 55%.

Jonny Bunyan played a good all-round game with 12 points (3/8 three-point shots), 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

Alistair Fraser led Scotland’s scoring yet again with 17 points (8/14 shots), to go with 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

All said and done, it was an excellent tournament for Scotland as they climbed further up the European ladder and provided an excellent platform for the players to progress in their careers.

Congratulations to Fraser Glass, Lee Reilly, Dale Grieve, Kyle Haldane, Bryan Munnoch, Jonny Bunyan, Ben Warrington, David Anderson, Nail Mackle, Cameron Buchan, Grant Mackay, Alistair Fraser, Euan Cameron, Pam Grant, Jim Wright, Alan Lamb, Amy Morgan and Doug Reilly.

Follow Scotland’s Under 18 Men as they compete in the European Championships, Division B, in Tel Aviv 22 July to 1 August.

Day 12 – Scots tune in for Luxembourg

Saturday 31st July

We retained our regular slot at the Zismann court with a match up against Luxembourg.  A steady start from us created a solid lead, which became unassailable late in the third quarter, finishing with a 25 point margin – 70-45.

A good day finished with a recovery session at the beach and some rest before our decider against Hungary for 13-14th place.

Day 11 – Rest and Prepare

The second competition rest day arrived with most of the guys opting to spend time with their families for some R’n'R.  Ali Fraser meanwhile hit the books in preparation for starting uni in Maine this September!

The management team sought out the poolside for a quick rest and then got back into preparation in advance of the crossover game against Luxembourg.

Day 10 – Orange Crush

Thursday 29th July

We picked ourselves up for a hot game against Netherlands – a top eight contender in the pool games… Disappointingly we were unable to pull off a win and went into the rest day knowing 13-16 classification was ahead of us.

Some small consolation, the guys spent some time at the beach in the early evening whilst the management team hung out at the hotel.

Day 9 – Narrow Margins

Wednesday 28th July

Really tough result against the Swiss – the guys sadly unable to capitalize on a narrow lead in the third quarter left us with a challenge to reach 9-12 classification.  Our tournament has so far been characterised by 2/3 point margins…

Day 8 – Down Time

Tuesday 27 July

The rest day has been overdue for the guys and management team following four tough games.

Whilst the guys were hanging out at the hotel for most of the day to recharge batteries, three members of the management team took a trip to Jerusalem taking in the Wailing Wall and the Dead Sea to wallow in the restorative mud.   The guys rose some time after lunch before heading to the beach for their nightly swim…

The tempo picks up again tomorrow with a clash against Switzerland in the classification round.

Day 7 – Final seconds

Monday 26 July

A good win against Portugal saw us in the 9-16 grouping for sure and with an outside possibility of top 8 if Hungary could turn over Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Sadly a last ditched effort from Hungary was not enough, putting B&H through and Scotland qualifying third in the group.  We followed the game live on the Fiba website and had an agonising wait as the website went down with 46 seconds in the third quarter and Hungary 12 points down.  Thirty minutes later the stats confirmed the two point win with a top 8 position now beyond reach.

Day 6 – Hungry for Success

Sunday 25 July

Scotland bounced back from a disappointing loss to Belgium on Saturday by beating Hungary 46-38 in a low scoring thriller at the Beit Danny hall.  The Scots started brightly going out to a 10 point lead in the first quarter and retaining a five point advantage at the half.

Both teams maintained their discipline in the third and the Scots led by eight entering a tense final quarter with both sides unable to get into an offensive rhythm.

Although it was tough with Hungary deploying two 7ft plus centres, however Scotland’s big players managed their opponents well.  Scotland plays Portugal tomorrow with an outside chance of qualifying for the top 8 stages.

Top scorers: Ali Fraser (16), Lee Reilly (10).

Day 5 – Belgian encounter

Saturday 24 July

Scotland endured a tough day at the office, losing their second group game against a strong Belgium side.

The Scots started tentatively, going behind 28-15 in the first quarter and 49-27 at the half.

The team came out firing in the second half to reduce the overall deficit to 13 points late in the third quarter.  However the Belgians are hopeful of Euro A qualification and showed their class to steady the ship and pull away to a 17 point win, concluding 73-56.

The Scots played hard all the way through, winning the second half by 5 points which augurs well for the vital clash against Hungary.

Top scorer: Ali Fraser (16).

Day 4 – Ready to go

Friday 23 July

With an early practice, we were quickly into our first encounter against Bosnia & Herzegovina.  The guys played hard all game and B&H were noticeably much improved following their defeat to Portugal on Thursday.

Disappointed with the result, but the guys are focused on our next match up against a classy Belgian outfit.

Day 3 – Bring On the Games

Thursday 22 July

The games commenced today with Belgium beating Hungary by 22 points in the early game while we have a day off and wait for our first game. Players and management team attended and thoroughly enjoyed the opening ceremony with speeches and an exhibition of Israeli music and culture.  Following this, coaching staff watched the Bosnia v Portugal game, seeing Portugal win a hard fought and close encounter by 12.

Day 2 – Getting Acclimatised

Wednesday 21 July

The team is now acclimatised, enjoyed two good practices and seen all of the gyms, which are of the highest quality. The weather is hot and dry so air con has been popular.

Looking forward to first game on Friday against Bosnia.

Day 1 – Touchdown in Tel Aviv

Tuesday 20 July

Scotland U18 Men arrived in Tel Aviv early after a long journey; the team spent the morning resting with a light training session in the afternoon to stretch their travel-weary legs.  A warm welcome from the local organisers and excellent hospitality has ensured the guys have settled in very quickly.

The team will train again tomorrow in preparation for first game against Bosnia Herzegovina on Friday.  Coach Doug Reilly is hopeful of a positive start to a challenging Euro B campaign.  Games against Belgium, Hungary and Portugal follow in the qualifying round.

Day 0 – Ready to Go

Coach Doug Reilly’s squad embarks on their Euro B mission Monday 19^th July where they will play 8 games in 10 days of competition, Scotland will play Belgium, Portugal, Hungary and Bosnia in the initial group stages, then play off for position depending on results in the group.

This is the culmination of over a year’s preparation with trips to Barcelona (twice) Cherbourg, Manchester, Bristol and a home series in Musselburgh, see this website for reports of these events.

This particular group of players have been together for 5 years since many of them played together in Development squads and through u15 and u16 and are now hoping to end on a high at Euro B.

Many of the players represent the successful Falkirk Fury squad, while there are also players from Arbroath, City of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth.   The coaching staff have been keen to foster a “club” type atmosphere to ensure that all players are able to contribute and therefore increase the groups effectiveness, to this end the team has been practicing midweek for the last 4 weeks, to fine tune team aspects.

Further the team is fortunate to have had the services of a physio at all sessions and games to offer advice and treatment to players, this has been a boon to the coaching staff offering immediate assessment and advice, allowing players to feel confident whilst performing to the highest level.

The one sour note has been the enforced withdrawal of their shooting forward Euan Cameron who had to withdraw from the squad due to a shoulder injury.   Euan was replaced by David Anderson, also of Falkirk, who has been training with the team since the final squad was selected so continuity has been maintained.

Follow the tournament here on the basketballscotland website and on the FIBA Europe website.

The orange nation of Netherlands handed Scotland’s Under 18 Men an agonising loss for the second day in a row at the European Championships, Division B, with a 59-66 result.

Having narrowly lost to Switzerland the day before, Scotland were again highly competitive against a more experienced basketball nation, but a close loss will be little satisfaction to this team who are getting used to causing upsets at this level.

In a game of small margins, Netherlands gained a 43-35 rebound advantage, while Scotland were not able to fully capitalise on their opponent’s poor free throw shooting (34%), managing only 55% from the charity stripe themselves.

Scotland again showed their discipline with a controlled effort that featured 15 assists on 23 made baskets and a low error rate with 16 turnovers.

Alistair Fraser was again dominant with 26 points (13/20 shots), 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Cameron Buchan had a positive all-round game with 5 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Lee Reilly scored 13 points (4/14 shots, 5/8 free throws) to go with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Scotland now drop into the 13-16 place classification and will look to better last year’s 16^th place to achieve Scotland’s highest ever final standing at a Division B tournament.

Next game is versus Luxembourg on Saturday at 1.15pm GMT.

Game statistics