Waczynski overpowers Russia to keep Poland undefeated

FOSHAN (China) – Adam Waczynski's fourth quarter heroics led Poland to a 79-74 win over Russia in the first game of the second round at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Arena. Poland's high-scorer with 18, his three-pointer gave Poland their first lead of the game, 61-58, with a traditional three-point play just after that. He hit two free throws with 8 seconds left to close the game.

Russia's stingy first quarter defense - they haven't conceded more than 20 points in the first quarter in game yet - gave them a six point lead that would last until halftime.

Poland would win the third quarter by two and surge ahead, finally taking the lead for good, 69-67, on two Michal Sokolowski free throws with 3:10 remaining.

Russia had won seven of their last eight World Cup games in which they were leading at half-time in the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Turning Point: Poland were down by eight points with 2:39 left in the third quarter after Russia got an odd 4-point play - Kulagin hit his third three of the game and another point from Semen Antonov who was fouled setting a pick.

Poland then went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 58 before Waczynski's three gave them a 61-58 lead. He followed that with a traditional three-point play to give Poland a 6-point lead. Russia would draw even at 67 but Poland would never trail again.

TCL Player of the Game: Mateuz Ponitka was the man early for Poland, finishing with 14 points and 9 rebounds along with 3 assists and 3 steals.

Stats Don't Lie: Poland hit 35 of their 38 attempts (92%) from the free-throw line. It's the highest shooting percentage from the line for a team with 35+ attempts in a FIBA Basketball World Cup game (since 1994). Poland outscored Russia by 22 points (35-13) from the free-throw line.

Bottom Line: Poland don't want to go home. After beating Venezuela, China, and the Cote d'Ivoire in the first round, they are now 4-0 and ready for Argentina in the next game.

They Said: "This was a big game for us. We knew what it meant and we’re closing in on the Quarterfinals. I’m glad we got it done tonight." - Poland guard AJ Slaughter

"Tough loss. We led for 30 minutes but we allowed them to make a run. We still fought our best despite everything. We just ran out of luck." - Russia shooting guard Vitaly Fridzon

"We didn’t capitalize on our advantage. We let Poland come back strong. They tied the game and gained momentum. We tried to play organized but we still had some bad shots. In the stats we are better in everything except they shot double free throws. It’s kind of interesting." - Russia coach Sergey Bazarevich

FIBA