These are two extremely close teams who faced each other at the start of this second day of the round of 16 of EuroBasket 2022. The gap has never exceeded 10 points, on one side and on the other.
Ukraine thus led very slightly (45-42) at half-time but Poland seemed less on the kneecaps. And with 24 points from AJ Slaughter or 22 points from Mateusz Ponitka, Igor Milicic’s players gradually got their hands on the game, with in particular 13 offensive rebounds and 15 points on “second chance”.
In the last five minutes, however, there was still only a six-point difference (84-78) and everything seemed possible for Ukraine, but after two missed free throws from Alex Len and a 3-point from Mateusz Ponitka, Poland looked in control. With the energy of despair, Svi Mykhailiuk and his teammates however came back to 88-86 but the former Lakers, Pistons and Thunder player could not find the basket.
Visibly exhausted, like his teammates, he was forced to see Poland move away thanks to free throws (94-86) to reach the quarter-finals. It is the first time that the country has returned to the European Top 8 since 1997 and they will face Luka Doncic’s Slovenia on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
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