Finch not surprised at Great Britain's first EuroBasket loss

HEAD coach Chris Finch admitted he saw Great Britain's first defeat of their EuroBasket qualifying campaign coming - but insists his side can bounce back in their two remaining games.

LEADING LIGHT: Pops Mensah-Bonsu topped GB's scorers once more but he could not stop FYR Macedonia inflicting their first defeat in six matches

Finch's men were downed 75-56 by FYR Macedonia on Monday as their five game winning streak came to an end in Skopje, but can still make sure of their place at next year's EuroBasket in Lithuania when they take on Bosnia & Herzegovina on Thursday and travel to Ukraine on Sunday.

Great Britain now have 11 points from their six matches and lie in second place in their group - just a point behind FYR Macedonia, who only have one more game to play.

Only the top team from the three groups is guaranteed of qualification while the two best-placed teams in second will also advance.

Qualification is paramount for Great Britain with reaching next year's EuroBasket crucial to their hopes of competing at the London 2012 Olympics.

At present all three teams in second place, including Great Britain, have 11 points and while Finch admits defeat is not the end of the world, he acknowledged his team must quickly put things right.

"All credit to Macedonia, they played a great game," said Finch. "In some ways, we felt this loss coming. We lacked focus and we will have to get that back in Liverpool [against Bosnia & Herzegovina].

"We played better in the second half and got some open shots, but we just couldn't knock down any open jumpers."

Pops Mensah-Bonsu led GB's scoring with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Luol Deng added 14 points and nine boards, having only had three points at half-time.

The home team were again led by America-born Bo McCalleb who finished with 20 points.

Macedonia were well on top in the first half and took a 43-27 lead in with them at the break and Great Britain found themselves two points adrift heading into the final quarter.

Deng inspired Great Britain to a mini-comeback as the visitors scored nine unanswered points, keeping the hosts scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes but by that stage, victory for FYR Macedonia was already assured.