They beat the United States 85-77 with a performance that coach Sinclair Thomas called “fabulous”.

 

He said: “The US are a good basketball team and we had to play to our strengths which we did today,”

 

Thomas was a a member of the Athens bronze medal-winning team.

 

He said: “They have beaten us a couple of times this year but we won when it counts which was in the medal match.”

 

For Thomas the bronze was a remarkable achievement for a young side at the start of transition with London 2012 very much in mind.

 

He said: “I think we’re ahead of schedule.

 

“We’ve got a new team who are quite young because we are raring to get the gold medal in 2012.

 

"We didn’t really expect to get the bronze.

 

"The goal was quarter-finals and then anything can happen.”

 

Thomas has had an eventful two weeks.

 

He flew out to Beijing the day after his wife gave birth to his first child, and then had to step into the breach when head coach Murray Treseder flew home to Australia last week for an operation.

 

The team was also hit with a bug in the Athletes’ Village and played two group games without some key players.

 

Thomas said: “It’s been a big tournament for us.

 

"We’ve gone through a lot of adversity with the coach flying home and me having to take over.

 

"But the key was team work. It’s been the key all week.

 

“We’ve worked hard all summer, but summer doesn’t count. It’s the Paralympic Games that counts.”

 

The match had all the makings of a close game.

 

The two sides had identical 4-1 records in the group stages, although Britain gained a psychological edge after winning their first head-to-head by four points with three key players out.

 

They also have history – they fought out an overtime thriller for bronze in Sydney eight years ago that America took by a point with a last-second, long-range bomb.

 

Four years later Britain got revenge in the Athens quarter-final – another ding-dong battle that set up GB for their first Paralympic medal.

 

But this time Britain did not allow it to be close.

 

Marshalled by captain Jon Pollock, they turned a slender one-point lead at half time into a convincing win in the second half despite some inevitable last-quarter wobbles.

 

Pollock had another cracking game, scoring 15, including a couple of three-pointers that settled the side’s nerves just as the US began to eat into Britain’s 14-point third-quarter advantage.

 

Fittingly, the ball was in Andy Blake’s hands at the final hooter.

 

The side’s captain four years ago, Blake was playing his last ever game for Britain after three Paralympic campaigns.

 

He shook the ball above his head in triumph as the players started to celebrate.

 

The 36-year-old Blake said: “Going out like this is what you dream of.

 

"Coming fourth is always awful and to win a basketball medal is so tough.

 

"We came out of a tough group with new players but we always believed we could do it.

 

“For me, every day here has been a countdown to this.

 

"I said to the guys before we went out we’ve got to leave everything out on the floor.

 

“It’s going to be hard for me to move on, but I can’t thank these guys enough for such a send-off. Finishing with the ball in my hands was a nice moment.

 

"Now I’m just trying to take it all in because it’s the last chance I’ll get.”

 

Pollock, 31, paid tribute to his predecessor and best friend.

 

The Liverpool player said: “He’s been a rock for us and it’s hard for me to see him move on.

 

“At the moment I am electric for the team and the effort we’ve put in over the last two weeks.

 

"Now there’s going to be some restructuring so you will never see these 12 players together again.

 

“But that’s for the future; tonight I’m over the moon.

 

"This is what it’s all about.

 

"When we get in the gym and break sweat, this is what it’s for - being on the stand with a medal round our necks.”