IWBF Euros: Turkey, Germany stay unbeaten

The Netherlands’ women’s basketball team continued their campaign to retain their title at the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) European Wheelchair Basketball Championships on Thursday (3 September) in Worcester, Great Britain. The Turkish and German men’s teams grabbed wins to stay undefeated in the tournament.

WOMEN

The Netherlands dominated the offensive boards and also applied high-pressure defense that left Great Britain somewhat indecisive as they took the 64-52 victory, staying perfect in the tournament.

The Dutch entered the second half up 32-24, and the British could not close the gap as they fell behind by 14 in the fourth quarter. The Netherlands’ saw a big offensive output from Mariska Beijer, who finished with 37 points.

Germany, who suffered their first loss of the tournament to the Netherlands, bounced back with a convincing 89-14 victory over Italy. Heike Friedrich led the Germans with a double-double 26 points and 15 rebounds, while teammate Linda Dahl chipped in 24 points.

Results

Spain 68, Turkey 24

Netherlands 64, Great Britain 52

Germany 89, Italy 14

MEN

Turkey held off Spain 63-54 to remain undefeated in their pool. Ozgur Gurbulak recorded a double-double 11 rebounds, 12 assists for Turkey. Turkey has a chance to secure their place in the finals when they take on the Netherlands in the semifinals on Friday.

Germany looked like strong contenders for the gold-medal game, as they too stayed perfect in pool play with a 75-54 win over Israel. Aliaksandr Halouski led Germany with 18 points.

Results

Switzerland 67, France 63

Sweden 80, Czech Republic 45

Germany 75, Israel 54

Netherlands 63, Poland 56

Turkey 63, Spain 54

Great Britain 77, Italy 48

Complete recaps of the IWBF European Wheelchair Basketball Championships 2015 can be found on the event website.

Medal games take place on Sunday (6 September). Also visit the event website for the IWBF European Wheelchair Basketball Championships 2015’s full schedule.