Van Oostrum commented on his selection for the Futures this year: "I'm excited to be part of the GB Futures programme this year. The sessions have been competitive in camp and everyone is working hard. Lithuania have been strong opposition and there will be more interesting games in the series with them."
With several fringe contenders for GB's senior squad looking to impress ahead of the start of pre-Olympic training camp in Houston next week, Futures coach Paul Mokeski admits he want the country's best prospects to make their case against the Lithuanians. Paul commented: "Lithuania has a long history of great basketball at all levels. This is the beginning of GB's training in preparation for the Olympics and an important time for the GB Futures to try and earn a training spot with senior men.
"We have a mixture of players who have been in the programme previously and some new faces which is a bringing a great intensity to the camp."
In a tight opening spell, Britain took a 52-49 lead at half-time before the visitors pulled eight clear during a frenetic third period.
However Mokeski's side rallied in the fourth to force an extra period at 88-88. They went on to out-score Lithuania 24-17 to claim the victory with Ogo Adegboye, Kyle Johnson and Ben Mockford adding 15 points apiece.
Johnson is keen to cement his place with the senior team once again, he said: "Last year was my first time with the GB Futures and being a part of that programme gave me the opportunity to earn a place with the senior men. I'm proud to have been selected to the programme again and look forward to the rest of the games this week. Lithuania are a nation of basketball players so this is going to be a test but we have trained hard in camp and are looking forward to the competition."
The teams meet again behind closed doors on Friday before opening their doors to the public on Saturday (7pm) at Surrey Sports Park.
