KATOWICE (Poland) - One day after prevailing over Israel in dramatic fashion, Poland had the last word in another Group D thriller on Sunday, this time against Iceland, securing a Final Phase berth as their reward.
Poland led Iceland by as many as 16 points in the third frame, fell behind in the fourth but outscored the guests 14-5 in the final stretch to seal an 84-75 victory, climb to 3-0 in the standings and punch their ticket to the next phase.
Turning Point
The hosts went on a 17-4 run between the end of the third and the start of the fourth quarter to build a 16-point lead, 52-36. The crowd in Spodek Arena might have thought the game was as good as over, Iceland however certainly had other ideas.
With Tryggvi Hlinason dominating in the paint, the Vikings used an 18-6 run to shift the momentum and claim an 71-70 lead with 3:31 to go.
Dominik Olejniczak scored with a hook shot 2:11 from the final buzzer to allow Poland to breath a collective sigh of relief and grab the initiative again, jumping ahead 75-73. Jordan Loyd sealed the win for Poland from the free-throw line in the dying seconds.
TCL Player of the Game
Mateus Ponitka was exceptional in the first two victories against Slovenia and Israel, and confirmed his outstanding form on Sunday.
The Polish captain led his team to another exciting night in Katowice, displaying all-around protagonism: he finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. He's the clear game changer for Igor Milicic's team.
This was his third EuroBasket game with 15+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ assists in the EuroBasket since the start of the 2022 tournament. Luka Doncic with 6 and Alperen Sengun with 4 are the only players with more such games in this span.
Stats Don't Lie
Poland raced to a 16-point cushion thanks in great part to their success in giving Iceland a taste of their own medicine: running in transition and scoring on the fastbreak. They outscored Craig Pedersen's team 18-11 in fast-break points.
The game however gradually changed into a hard-fought battle close to the basket, and the two teams scored 40 points in the paint apiece and, despite Hlinason's impactful presence, Poland out-rebounded Iceland 41 to 31.
Bottom Line
Poland are on cloud nine, having officially clinched their ticket for the Round of 16 in Riga. They join Türkiye, Serbia, Germany, Finland, and Greece as the only unbeaten teams at 3-0 so far in FIBA EuroBasket 2015, and will face France on September 2.
Despite Tryggvi Hlinason's double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, Iceland remain winless in Group D. They are still chasing their first-ever EuroBasket win, the ultimate goal in their remaining matchups with Slovenia and France.
They Said
"It feels very good. We have had three really hard games. We were able to achieve this, but we still have two games, and we want to win all of them to be in the best position we can. We still keep going." - Poland's Aleksander Balcerowski.
"I'm super happy we were able to get a win at the end of the day, because this game was way too stressful. We had a comfortable lead, but we almost screwed it up. We were able to stand still at the end." - Poland's Dominik Olejniczak.
"I feel like we had the game in our hands. We gave everything we had, and we played great basketball for maybe 35 minutes. They made two runs that cost a lot at the end, but I'm super proud of the team and of the performance we showed after a heartbreaking loss yesterday as well." - Iceland's Martin Hermannsson.
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA