88-89: Finland returns to face Spain in the semifinals

The Finnish team, which lost by fourteen points at the beginning of the last quarter (76-62, m.31), stabilized and, in a relentless quarter with Alexander Madsen at the helm, took advantage of Poland’s collapse to get back (88-89) and became Spain’s rival in the pre-Olympic semifinals.

Spain has to play the semifinals of the tournament that will give a ticket to Paris against a Finland that is playing without its star, Lauri Markkanen, but this Thursday showed talent with the victory of Sasu Salin, the direction of Edun Maxhuni or the quality. of Madsen.

Madsen, who scored the last two free throws with seventeen seconds left and finished with eighteen points after a clean final quarter, was the leader of a Finnish team that was able to stop the attacks of the Polish team, led by AJ Slaughter and winger San Antonio Spurs center Jeremy Sochan, who started the match more solidly.

Mateusz Ponitka was the great figure in the first minutes. With seven points and a pair of assists in the early stages, he took advantage of center Aleks Balcerowski to create a low post advantage through backdoors, while Panathinaikos’ interior threatened from the high post (11-6, m.5 ).

However, the departure of Andre Gustavson and Miro Little rebalanced a clash with a frenetic pace played on the hardwood but also in the stands, where over a thousand Finnish fans and around three hundred Poles gathered to watch the match (24 -24).

With the return of Balcerowski, Poland closed the ring first and knew how to attack later through the persistence of Jeremy Sochan (32-26, m.13). Only a couple of three-pointers from Sasu Salin unlocked a Finland that was still in flux, especially because of the Poles’ defense, which, moreover, was involved in the attack and went into the break with 55 percent shooting from three (47 -38).

Far from dropping his percentages, AJ Slaughter nailed two consecutive triples to force Lassi Tuovi to call time, but Sochan still extended the streak (59-44, m.23). Slaughter and Sochan took over for Ponitka and, aided by Balcerowski’s threat in the post, took off early in the third quarter, but Jacob Grandison gave the attack the balance it was looking for and, with five straight points and a triple from Salin, they left alive in the last quarter (71-60).

Poland extended the lead again (76-62, m.31), but from that moment it went into crisis and with a run of 4-18 Finland got back into the game. Even two almost consecutive timeouts didn’t work. The Polish defense was convulsed and Alexander Madsen, who did not appear in the whole game, scored three triples almost in a row that, together with an omnipresent Mikael Jantunen, leveled the match (83-82, m.36 ).

Madsen and Jantunen were joined by point guard Edon Maxhuni, who had five straight points that put Finland ahead for the first time since the first quarter (86-87, m.39).

Only Ponitka reacted on the Polish side, who with the help of Aleks Dziewa put Poland back in front, but the loss with thirty seconds left led to a counterattack that ended with two free throws scored by Madsen to make this 88-89. Sochan had a shot from six meters with five seconds left, but, however, it was established, as Poland’s attempt to enter the pre-Olympic semifinals.

Data sheets

Poland-Finland, 88-89

88 – Poland (24+23+24+17): Sokolowski (10), AJ Slaughter (21), Ponitka (17), Sochan (20), Balcerowski (1) -starting five-, Pluta (-), Milicic ( 3), Mazurczak (3), Dziewa (6), Zyskowski (4), Michalak (3) and Zonierewicz (-).

89 – Finland (24+14+22+29): Maxhuni (7), Nkamhoua (11), Valtonen (-), Grandison (7), Jantunen (20) -starting five-, Little (10), Salin (11 ), Muurinen (-), Gustavson (5), Raitanen (-) and Kaukiainen (-).

Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Johnny Batista (PUR) and Martin Vulic (CRO). They removed Nkamhou (m.37) for Finland.

Incidents: the third and final match of group B, comprising Poland, Finland and the Bahamas, was played at the Fonteta pavilion in front of 2,470 spectators.