England crushed in Russia

Basketball

England were overwhelmed 114-59 by Russia in Moscow last night, where their already daunting task was rendered impossible by the absence of both their most experienced player and their leading scorer.

Thames Valley Tiger's Peter Scantlebury, England's most capped international, remained at home nursing an eye injury, Steve Bucknall did not travel either. Without him, the 7ft 1in Ian Whyte, Sheffield's Roger Huggins and Andy Gardiner battled to score the bulk of England's points. Whyte had 17 and Huggins and Gardiner 11 each.

Russia's Sergei Babkov top-scored with 21. His side, who lead this group of the European Championship semi-final round with five straight wins, flattened England with nine second half three-pointers to outscore them 74-27 after the interval.