The red and white Basketball players finally won the Eurobasket qualifying round. We defeated Estonia in Tallinn 88:86. Only in the last quarter did we take a lead greater than one point. Michał Michalak became the hero of our team. The Anwil Włocławek player scored 29 points. Mateusz Ponitka added 27. The Poles were tired on the court for most of the match, but they managed to tip the scales of victory to their side.
The Poles started the match in a weak style. Very quickly, we had five losses recorded on our account. We scored the first points only after two minutes of the game. This was thanks to two free throws by Michał Sokołowski. We waited another minute for the points from the game. Sokołowski scored from a distance.
We had problems in attack for almost the entire first quarter. What saved us was that the Estonians also missed. At the end of this part of the match, it was easier for us to score points. In the last part of the quarter, the opponents scored two long-range shots. After the first quarter we were losing 22:25.
The second quarter, unfortunately, started similarly to the first: with ineffective play of the Poles. Apart from Michał Michalak's effective three-pointer, there was nothing else for three minutes. It was only after four minutes that Michalak successfully got to the basket after an individual action. We missed good team play. The Estonians, however, dealt with the White and Reds' defense very easily, which gave them easy and effective points. Our rivals gained 7 points, but we were able to control the situation. After 20 minutes of play, we were only losing 40:42. This is largely due to Michalak, who finished the first half with 17 points. The problem was rebounds. The Estonians collected 9 balls under our basket. On defense we had… 8 rebounds.
In the third quarter we stayed close to the Estonians. Invariably, however, it is the opponents who look much better and more comfortable in attack. They shared the ball very well. The action was played at a good pace. Still, we were close, a in the middle of the quarter we took the lead 56:55 after Mateusz Ponitka's three-pointer. However, we did not follow through. By the end of the quarter we scored only seven points and We went into the break losing by one point, 62:63.
The following minutes did not bring a positive change in the Poles' game. Mistakes continued to abound, both in attack and defense. We also used up the foul limit for the last quarter quickly, in less than 3 minutes. Fortunately, the Estonians also committed a lot of fouls, which indicated that at the end of the match we would have a free throw festival.
After a break at the request of coach Milicić However, we played two good plays and took the lead 73:72. In the next action, after an impressive dunk by Aleksander Balcerowski, we had three points more than our rivals and this was our highest lead in this match. Ponitka and Michalak scored important points in this way at the end.
Our advantage increased to five points. The Estonians began to show nerves, which resulted in missed shots. Unfortunately, subsequent actions were already effective. There was also a loss for Ponitka, after which the rivals scored easy points. However, in the last seconds, the Poles played more effectively. We finally managed to calm down the game. Fight harder in defense. We won until the final siren, although the Estonians managed to shoot from a distance, but they lost 86:88.
Regardless of the elimination results The White and Reds, as co-host, will play at next year's Eurobasket. In February we will play the last qualifying matches: at home against Lithuania and away against North Macedonia.
Estonia: Kristian Kullamae 21, Matthias Tass 19, Kasper Suurorg 11, Siim-Sander Vene 10, Janari Joesaar 7, Mikk Jurkatamm 5, Kaspar Treier 4, Artur Konontsuk 3, Kregor Hermet 3, Joonas Riismaa 3, Hugo Toom 0.
Poland: Michał Michalak 29, Mateusz Ponitka 27, Aleksander Balcerowski 10, Andrzej Pluta 6, Luke Petrasek 6, Michał Sokołowski 5, Daniel Gołębiowski 3, Jakub Schenk 0, Aleksander Dziewa 2, Tomasz Gielo 0.
