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RIGA (Latvia) – Poland booked a return trip to the Quarter-Finals of the FIBA EuroBasket with a workman-like 80-72 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The 2022 Semi-Finalists Poland bounced back from two straight losses to finish the Group Phase to register consecutive top eight showings for first time since 1971.

Turning Point

Bosnia and Herzegovina came out of the game on fire and opened a 13-2 advantage early on. The lead was still double figures at 31-21 before Poland pulled within 34-33. The Dragons were up 44-40 at the break.

Bosnia and Herzegovina extended the cushion to 55-47 but watched as Poland surged back with a 10-1 spurt to go ahead 57-56 – Poland’s first lead of the game. And they led 62-61 after 30 mintues. Poland opened some breathing run with an 11-2 spurt to make it 76-68 with 4 mintues to go.

Poland kept up their defensive work and Jordan Loyd drained a jumper with 56 seconds to play for an 80-72 cushion to decide the game.

TCL Player of the Game

Jordan Loyd would not let Poland lose three straight games as he hit 3 three-pointers and scored 26 points while also adding 2 rebounds and 1 assist, steal and block each.

Captain Mateusz Ponitka played his usual pivotal role in pouring in 19 points with 9 rebounds and 3 steals. At the other end, Jusuf Nurkic scored 20 points and John Roberson had 19 points in the loss before a late injury.

Nurkic climbs again

Nurkic moves into top five on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EuroBasket scorers listStats Don’t Lie

Poland grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and took the points off turnovers category 19-12. The Poles also converted 24 of 29 free throws compared to just 11 of 20 for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bottom Line

Poland took another step to matching their magical run from three years ago when they reached the Semi-Finals for their first top four showing since 1971. Igor Milicic’s team will face Türkiye in the Quarter-Finals.

Bosnia and Herzegovina were happy to advance from the group stage for the first time since 1993, but they will be disappointed about leaving Riga after just one game.

They Said

“I am really satisfied with me team. Everybody today was outstanding. We fought. Everybody did their job. Again, we are in the Quarter-Finals.” – Mateusz Ponitka, Poland

“I am extremely happy for these guys and this staff. It means a lot. But we’re not satisfied. We want to keep pushing and keep going and ride the wave. I believe this team can accomplish a lot.” – Jordan Loyd, Poland

“We did a good job stopping their offensive rebounds. We knew they are a physical team. In the first half they had a lot of second chances. In the second half we made some more shots, shooting the ball very well.” – Andrzej Pluta, Poland

“We can be proud of ourselves and how we represented our country. We have to thank our fans. We have the best fans in the world. We deserved to be here. We have quality and this team is not old so we will play another three-four years together. This was one step forward and I believe we can make another step in the next big competition.” – Amar Gegic, Bosnia and Herzegovina

For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!

FIBA