Bahamas convincingly defeated Poland by 90:81 in the second round of the Olympic Games qualifying tournament.
In this way, the Bahamas secured passage to the semifinals from first place in the group after yesterday’s win over Finland by 96:85.
The Bahamas team looked much better from the start of the game. In the first quarter alone, they played very diversely on offense, scoring 30 points, gaining a double-digit lead, and thereby directing the game in the right direction.
Throughout the entire second quarter, the Bahamas maintained a double-digit lead, keeping the difference between 10 and 15 points. They ended the half with a lead of 50:38.
A similar story unfolded in the second half. Poland didn’t have solutions for the excellent trio of V.J. Edgecombe, Deandre Ayton, and Buddy Hield, so they trailed 73:59 heading into the last ten minutes.
The Bahamas routinely maintained their lead, which at one point reached a maximum of 83:65. The only thing Poland managed to do by the end of the game was reduce the lead to single digits.
V.J. Edgecombe led his team to win with 21 points, while Deandre Ayton also had an excellent game with 18 points. Buddy Hield played a great game as well, contributing 17 points and 10 assists.
In the defeated Poland team, Aleksander Balcerowski was the top scorer with 22 points, followed by San Antonio Spurs player Jeremy Sochan with 16 points. Former Partizan player Mateusz Ponitka added 13 points.
Poland will play against Finland tomorrow, and the winner of that game will qualify for the semifinals. In the second group at the tournament in Valencia, Spain, Angola, and Lebanon are competing.
VJ EDGECOMBE COMES IN CLUTCH 🗡️#FIBAOQT pic.twitter.com/P04pzAQ8e9
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 3, 2024
When it comes to the qualifying tournament in Riga, the Philippines surprised Latvia and secured a win by 89:80.
The top scorers for the winners were Justin Brownlee with 26 points and Kai Sotto with 18 points, while Rodions Kurucs led Latvia with 18 points.
Currently, Latvia has a points difference of plus 19, the Philippines plus nine, and Georgia minus 28 due to a convincing defeat against Luca Banchi’s team in the first round. If Georgia wants to advance, they will need to defeat the Philippines by a margin of 19 points or more. If the Philippines win the next game, they will take first place, and Latvia will be second.
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