Britain's depleted line-up, through injury and unavailability, had matched the Poles throughout the first half, but came up short against the nation which will host them in Europbasket 2009 in September.

Joel Freeland led the way for Britain with 16 points, six rebounds and four steals in 28 minutes of action, with Nick George looking impressive as he added 11 points and five boards for Chris Finch's team. However, with youngster Dan Clark the next highest scorer on five points, Britain lacked the firepower to gain the win against a tough looking Poland team.

The Poles shared the points around with David Logan leading the way on 11, and both Szymn Szewcyk and Michal Ignerski each scoring.

The teams shared on honours on the boards, each finishing with 42 points, but ultimately Poland's superior shooting proved key as they won their first game in the tournament sponsored by Standard Life.

Britain will look to bounce back on Saturday when they play Turkey at 5.30pm, while the Poles face Israel at 3pm.
Ignerski opened the scoring with a long range jumper for Poland and Krzystof Szubarga added one from two at the foul line to put them 3-0 up.

Mike Lenzley made it 3-1 from the line after being fouled by Szewcyk, and Nate Reinking tied things with a well taken shot.
Lenzley gave GB their first lead of the game with a trey to put them 6-5 up at the four minute mark, and some good defence saw Britain force Poland into a 24 second violation to leave the game tied at 6-6 going into the five minutes of the period.

Joel Freeland restored GB's lead with a free throw before producing a block at the other end, and Dan Clark sunk at trey to put the hosts 10-6 up and force a Poland time-out.

Nick George extended that lead to six from the foul line before David Logan halved the lead with a score from the Land of Plenty.

A George dunk kept GB ahead, but it was Poland who finished the period strongly, scoring the final seven points to cut the British lead to 16-14 at the first break.

Adam Wojick levelled the score with first points of the second period, but Jarrett Hart immediately restored Britain's lead, and GB were still 22-18 ahead when coach Finch called a time-out with 6:18 on the clock.

Freeland made it a six point game coming out of the time out, only to see Szewcyk halve the lead with a trey.

That three-pointer sparked a 10-1 run from the Poles, and with GB twice being called for travelling, the visitors took a 29-25 lead before Finch took another time-out with 2:23 on the clock.

That lead was extended by one before Randell Hankes ended the drought with a score from close range, and with Hankes attempted buzzer-beater rimming out, Britain went into the locker room trailing 30-27.

Clark saw a baby hook rim out before Maciej Lampe opened the second half scoring, and the big Pole doubled his tally with a pair from the charity stripe as Clark was forced to sit down on his thi rd foul.

A Freeland basket from the Land of Plenty kept Britain in the game, but Poland gradually built on their lead, and needless turnovers helped them open a 45-34 advantage at the 5:22 mark when Finch decided he'd seen enough and called a time-out.

The move didn't pay off as Poland scored the first ten points after of the time-out to lead 55-34 before Freeland broke the run with a put-back and George sunk a trey to cut the deficit to 16.

Freeland dunked to keep GB within 16, but Britain blew the chance of having the final shot of the period to trail 57-41 going into the fourth period.

Justin Robinson opened the fourth period with a pair of free-throws after a technical foul on the Poland bench, and George hit one from two charity shots after being fouled to cut the deficit to 57-44.

However, the Poles responded with a 10-4 run capped with by a Lampe dunk, and Finch was forced to call another timeout.

Neither sides made any serious inroads into the margin during the next few minutes, and Poland went into the final two minutes 69-56 ahead, and they closed the game out to move into second place in the four team tournament.