The white-red started the competition with Sunday’s victory over Hungary 83:81, and the Bosnians defeated the Portuguese 84:75.
And the Polish players did not hide that the meeting with the Balkan team would be much more difficult for them. “You’ll have to fight under the basket,” declared the captain of the Poles, Marcel Ponetska.
And indeed, there had been a lot of battles under both domains from the very beginning. The hosts started with a high “C”, because Michał Sokołowski and Jarosław Zyskowski scored three points. Then the Bosnians made up for the losses for a while, but after 10 minutes they lost 19:27.
In the second half, the guests, after two effective actions by Dzhanan Musa, reduced the distance to six points, but again the players of coach Igor Milicic, who were going to the locker room for a break, were more accurate, leading by 50 points: 37.
The Whites and the Reds had a timeout in the third set, just like in the match with Hungary. Their advantage was reduced to 57:54. Milic responded to this with a break, which had a positive effect on his players. 10 minutes before the end, the Poles had a lead of 70:55.
Two three-pointers (Zyskowski and Ponitka) early in the final quarter gave the home side a safe – as it seemed – advantage. The Polish fans prematurely breathed a sigh of relief. Bosnians fought for every point until the end, but eventually lost 76:85.
The two best teams in the tournament will play in the final stage (semi-finals and final also in Gliwice), where they will join the Group A teams played in Tallinn.
In addition to the host nation, Estonia, there are also the Czech Republic, Israel and North Macedonia. The winner of the entire tournament will receive the right to play in the main Olympic qualifiers in 2024.
Tuesday is the day off from competition. A day later, the Poles will play with Portugal (18.00), and Bosnia and Herzegovina will play with Hungary (21.00).
Poland – Bosnia and Herzegovina 85:76 (27:19, 23:18, 20:18, 15:21)
Poland: Michał Sokołowski 22, Mateusz Ponitka 22, Jaroslaw Zyskowski 13, Aleksander Balcerowski 8, Andrzej Pluta 8, Michał Michalak 5, Igor Milicic 3, Jakub Garbacz 2, Geoff Groselle 2, Mikołaj Witliński 0, Przemysłewicew.
Bosnia and HerzegovinaJusuf Nurkic 17, Aleksandar Lazic 15, Dzanan Musa 13, Amar Alibigovic 11, Edin Atik 7, Luka Garza 5, Maralem Halilovic 3, Kenan Camingas 3, Amar Jegic 2, Adin Vrapac 0.
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