Great Britain take silver as United States retain wheelchair basketball title

Great Britain’s quest for a historic first Paralympic wheelchair basketball gold fell narrowly short as the United States completed a ‘three-peat’ in the men’s final in Paris.

Bill Johnson’s British side had impressively swept aside all before them to book a showdown with the back-to-back defending champions in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Bercy Arena but the Americans continued their recent domination at the Games with a 73-69 win.

Silver for ParalympicsGB was their best result since defeat to Australia in the final of 28 years ago following bronzes in 2004, 2008, 2016 and 2021.

Lee Manning and captain Phil Pratt claimed 21 and 17 points respectively but 26 from Jake Williams and 24 from skipper Steve Serio helped the US retain their crown.

Pratt said: “It’s tough, they are a hell of a team and Steve Serio was incredible, he’s one of the greatest to ever play the game. We challenged him to shoot and he came out firing.

“USA were the better team, hats off to them. It sucks, but we’ll be back.”

Saturday evening’s shoot-out was a rematch of the last two World Championship finals, with Britain taking the title in 2018 before the US snatched it back by a single point in 2022.

Star Spangled Banners and Union Jacks were dotted across the capacity crowd, with plenty of Parisians also in attendance for some late night entertainment on the final evening of sport ahead of Sunday’s closing ceremony.

America largely controlled the contest and led at the end of each quarter, gradually increasing their advantage to keep their rivals at arm’s length.

Yet Britain had the better of the final quarter and closed to within three points with just under 12 seconds remaining following a three-pointer from Terry Bywater.

Brian Bell’s free throw then gave the US breathing space as they staved off a dramatic comeback to once again top the podium.

Bywater, playing at his seventh Games, said: “We had such a fantastic tournament, the boys stuck together, but getting beaten by four points in a final, it’s going to hurt.

“They made some big shots down the stretch, they have a lot of experience in these finals and it’s the first time we’ve been there in many years. I’m so proud of the boys.”

Earlier, Britain finished fifth in the women’s competition thanks to a 48-39 play-off victory over Germany.