By Elizabeth Hudson
BBC Sport in Athens |
Jon Pollock set the tone with two early three-pointers but the Dutch came back strongly to edge the first period.
But GB hit 12 points without reply to haul themselves back into the match and went into the break 40-33 ahead.
Pollock and Colin Price stretched the lead after the restart and, despite pressure from Dutch tournament top scorer Koen Jansen, Britain held firm.
The victory helped make amends for the disappointment of losing out on bronze to a late USA score four years ago at the Sydney Games.
"If ever there was payback for the bronze defeat in Sydney, this was it and I am very proud," Great Britain coach Dave Titmuss said.
 |  We need to look to Beijing and bring through some of those younger players |
"Finally we saw what we have worked for over the last few years against what was a very talented and experienced Dutch team. "Offensively we were able to execute our shots superbly and we shot and handled the ball well.
"We were solid defensively against a good high-scoring team and although Koen Jansens hit 36 points, we still made him take some bad shots."
With some players now set to think about their international careers, Titmuss is looking towards the future.
And he is already planning to integrate some of this year's European Junior Championship team into the senior set-up
"We are now up with the best and we want to stay there," Titmuss admitted.
"We need to look at our programme for Beijing and bring through some of those younger players and hopefully we can challenge for medals again."
MMIX
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