A/P BERLIN — Slovenia, led by Luka Doncic, stormed back from a 23-point deficit and appeared to be headed for a spot in the EuroBasket semifinals.
In a completely unexpected, EuroBasket will have a new champion because Poland had other plans.
Poland defeated Slovenia 90-87 with Mateusz Ponitka's 26 points, 16 rebounds, and ten assists to advance to the semifinals of the European Championships for the first time since 1971.
Slovenia was led by Vlatko Cancer, who scored 21, and Goran Dragic, who scored 17.
Doncic had 11 rebounds and seven assists while being limited to 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
The Dallas Mavericks star revealed he had suffered injuries throughout the competition and needed an injection to get through the game.
Doncic remarked, "But that's not the reason. "I played poorly today. I failed my group. I failed the entire nation, which was rooting for us. I need to consider this game and improve.
Slovenia closed the gap with a 24-6 run in the third quarter after Poland had a 23-point lead late in the second quarter and a 58-39 advantage at the half.
Slovenia went ahead when Dragic scored to open the fourth, and with 6:58 remaining, Klemen Prepelic's jumper made it 73-68.
Over the next six minutes, Poland outscored Slovenia 21-7 and held on in the waning seconds.
Poland received 16 points from A.J. Slaughter and Michal Sokolowski, 14 points from Jaroslaw Zyskowski and 11 points from Aleksander Balcerowski.
Fantastic, commented Sokolowski. "And now we're at a standstill. Starting, we had medal dreams. Although it's getting closer, we still lack it. I want to go there.
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