A late Great Britain comeback fell just short as they lost to the United States in the Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball gold-medal match.
In their first appearance in the final since 1996, GB lost 73-69 to the world champions at Bercy Arena in Paris.
GB trailed for almost the entire match and were 63-51 down in the final quarter before nine unanswered points revived hope.
However, at 63-60, a second free throw from Phil Pratt came back off the rim of the basket to halt the momentum and the US were able keep GB at bay.
Turnovers were key, with GB only managing to gain two points from them while the US converted nine.
The silver medal follows bronzes for the men’s team at the past two Paralympics.
It is a third title in a row for the US, for whom Jake Williams (26 points) and Steve Serio (24) dominated the scoring.
Lee Manning (21), Pratt (17) and Gregg Warburton (15) kept Britain in the game until the final minute.
“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,” said Pratt.
“We stuck to our gameplan but they were the better team.”
Terry Bywater, competing at his eighth Games, having made his debut as a 17-year-old in Sydney 2000, added: “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 on Saturday, the GB women’s team beat Germany 48-39 to finish fifth in their competition.
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