Draft article: Richard Parsons 2026-07-30 16:14

JUBILANT Jamell Anderson reckons resilience and unity fired Team England’s basketball stars to a thrilling Commonwealth gold. The Nottingham star’s 3x3 side brilliantly defended their title with a heart-thumping 19-17 triumph over Australia in Glasgow. England edged themselves into a slender lead to set up a nail-biting finale but heroically clung on to send the SEC into raptures. Experienced Anderson, 36, was watched on by his three-year-old daughter Harper and wife Georgia, a former basketball player himself. And after joining forces with Ashley Hamilton, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and Evan Walshe to grab glory, he hailed his band of brothers for making more Commonwealth memories. “It’s incredible and I’m so proud of the team,” he said. “No matter what happens, we always stayed level and held each other accountable – that’s the most important thing for me about this team, and an important lesson in life. “Togetherness is all I can think about right now. “To win Commonwealth gold for England in front of my daughter – I’m finished. What else can I do? “I hope that she remembers this day. I’m going to run and see my family now, enjoy some big sweaty hugs then have a great evening with the boys.” Anderson and his teammates are four of 251 Team England athletes here in Glasgow, all of whom benefit from crucial National Lottery funding. England had beaten New Zealand 21-16 in the afternoon’s semi-finals to guarantee themselves at least silver in Glasgow. And they followed that up in the final event of the night to dramatically grab gold, riding their luck at times but holding off a late Australian barrage to make it back-to-back Commonwealth crowns. Lautier-Ogunleye added: “Every single game was right down to then wire. “They had us on the ropes but we just never gave up and always stuck together, threw some finishing punches and came out victorious. “We’re brothers – we’ve been playing basketball in this country since we were young and all have different backgrounds. “Together we can all make history – we’ve really all brought into this and we are a special group of guys.”