FIBA EuroBasket Day 6 Review: United Kingdom beat Poland; Israel stun Italy in a thriller (Part-1)
United Kingdom 88 – Poland 81
United Kingdom’s young forward Joel Freeland scored 14 points of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and in doing so crushed Poland’s hope to excel in the second round of the 2011 European Championship. Trailing by a single point entering the last 10 minutes, the British team spurred on by Joel clinched an 88-81 win over Poland. This was Britain’s second consecutive win in as many days after they beat Portugal a night before.
Chicago Bulls small forward Luol Deng carried was pivotal in win. Living up to his reputation, he racked up a double- double game-high 28 points and 14 boards.
Five players from Poland’s line-up also landed double figures with Dardan Berisha leading from the bench with 19 points. However Poland’s super efforts were absolutely annihilated by the incredible scoring rampage that was triggered by Freeland in the defining moments of the game.
After posting one of the best performances of his career, Joel Freeland said, "We are just happy to win for ourselves. To go home with two wins is a good result for us."
Keyed by Deng and Joel, United Kingdom managed to seal a 39-31 advantage at the interval. Poland however stepped up the ante in the third quarter and outscored the British 25-16 to convert their deficit into a 56-55 advantage, going into the last frame.
All Poland needed at that point was to continue their momentum in order to clinch a second round berth. However, Freeland came in their way and hammered 14 points to leave them stunned.
Israel 96 – Italy 95
On Monday night, Siauliai Arena showcased a thrilling battle between the two of the lightweight teams of Group B – Italy and Israel. Both teams were playing their last game of the tournament after failing to clinch the second round berth and they ensured that leave the tournament with a game to remember.
Four out of five starters of Israel landed double figures, an effort just enough to give them a breathtaking 96-95 overtime victory over Italy. Guy Pnini, the Israeli small forward finished the game with a team-high 22 points to lead the way.
For Italy, Toronto Raptors’ forward Andrea Bargnani posted a stupendous double-double with a game-high 26 points and 11 boards, however Andrea’s foul in the last second of the first overtime awarded a free throw to the opposition when the scoreboard read 95-95. Israel’s bench player Yaniv Green made the most of the opportunity and buried the game-winning free throw.
The game had winning moments for Italy, who recuperated from 19 points deficit in the fourth quarter and outscored Israel 24-5 to force the game into overtime. However, it all came down to a foul by Bargnani and the game was lost.
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