TERRY Bywater believes Great Britain have their found their rhythm when it matters most after a third straight Paralympic wheelchair basketball victory.

After a narrow defeat to Germany and heavy loss to Canada, Bywater admitted he and his team-mates needed to show their character.

And a 71-55 win over Japan in their final group game is a third straight win and books a quarter-final tomorrow against either Spain, Turkey or the USA.

“It was another bulldog performance and that was a phenomenal basketball,” said Bywater, who contributed 15 points.

“I feel I’m peaking at the right time after a tough year with injury. It’s not about me though, it’s about the team performance.

“We had a tough start but we’ve taken two defeats on the chin but bounced back and showed our character. Other teams might have slumped but we’ve emerged stronger for it.

“We need to keep this momentum going and confidence is sky high right now.

This is the closest knit team we’ve had and that is making a difference.

“We’ve got more strength in depth than any team in this tournament. This is a long tournament and we’ve got the ability to rest people and give other players time on court, which is making a difference.

“There are eight teams in this tournament that could medal here, so whoever we play in the quarter-final is going to be tough.

“And whoever it is will struggle if we play as well as we did against Japan.”

Coach Murray Treseder was delighted with the dominant display against Japan, even if a worried about a lapse in concentration late in the match when the victory was already assured.

Britain have won bronze at the last two Games and Treseder remains confident of an upgrade – although he concedes it will be tough.

“I thought we were good for three quarters of the match but then we slowed down a little bit and I wasn’t happy,” he said.

“If we play like that against the standards of team we’ll now play that will cost us the match. However, the last three games have been of an extraordinary hight standard and it’s setting us up for a really brutal quarter-final, whoever we play.

“The last three games have been very good, although with due respect to those three teams whoever we play next will be a step up in competition.

fter that second loss we asked for a response and what we’ve been given by the team has been wonderful.’’