Poland knock out Slovenia: Ponitka triple-double sends reigning champs home

BERLIN (Germany) - Poland pulled off one of the biggest upsets at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 as they survived a huge fightback from Slovenia to reach the Semi-Finals with a stunning 90-87 triumph against the winners of the 2017 edition of the competition.

The reigning champions had fought back from a 23-point first-half deficit, but it was Poland who had the final say with a strong finish to seal their place in the last four of the tournament for the first time since 1971.

Turning Point: It was a one-point game at 29-28 early in the second, but by the midway point Poland had compiled a 15-1 run to take control before seeing their lead move beyond the 20-point mark in a stunning effort. Game over? Think again. Slovenia came out rejuvenated and a 26-6 spell saw them take back the lead early in the fourth and were up by four. Game over? Think again. Poland found their shooting touch again as they made the big shots when it mattered most.

TCL Player of the Game: Mateusz Ponitka once again for Poland. 16 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the first half alone before shaking off a third quarter wobble to finish only the third triple-double at EuroBasket since 1995 with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Cue MVP chants from the vocal Polish fans in attendance.

Stats Don't Lie: Poland turned the ball over just three times in the first half and shot 60 percent from inside the arc as well as making  nine three-pointers. They then went 0-of-11 from beyond the arc in the third quarter, whilst seeing their turnovers climb into double figures. But Slovenia were left to rue missed free throws (12-of-20) and were down at 29 percent from three-point range overall.

Bottom Line: This game had huge twists and turns, but in the end it was Poland who were able to pull off a historic result. Slovenia exerted a lot of energy recovering from the significant deficit and ran out of steam with Luka Doncic fouling out the final straw of their title defense. A monumental victory for Poland and they go full steam ahead to a matchup with France.

They Said:

"We were ready that it would be a tough game. I was a little surprised, I have to admit it, that we played so great in the first half. It was plus-20 points against the defending champions. That was really impressive, and I knew that Slovenia have great players. We all know how great they are and how competitive they are. They started pressing us in the third quarter. We knew that it would be some kind of run. Maybe it was too big of a run and they went ahead. We talked about this in the locker room too. Try to be brave and take the next step further. We have to keep in mind we don’t have that much experience because we are not too often in the Quarter-Finals. I'm really proud of these players." - Mateusz Ponitka, Poland

"We are very grateful for our fans that came here in big numbers to support us. If somebody believed after the first half that we would destroy Slovenia and they would not come back that’s insane. But what’s remarkable is we got back on track and win this game. We are very happy where we are at and our dream goes on." - Poland coach, Igor Milicic

"Congratulations to Poland. They played an amazing game - it's a big achievement for them. We didn't come to the game how we wanted or with the energy we needed. Today, I played terrible and let my team down and that's on me. This EuroBasket was amazing to see, some of the games were unbelievable." - Luka Doncic, Slovenia

"Big congrats to the Poland team. They played a hell of a game, especially in the first half. They came out fighting, scoring, they made nine threes in the first half and only four in the second. They made a big lead. Bad offence went to bad offence. Big credit to our guys for the fight in the second half. The third quarter was amazing, putting everything onto the court. We made some crucial mistakes and they made some big shots." - Slovenia coach, Aleksander Sekulic

FIBA