Luka Doncic goes home: Poland upsets Slovenia behind Ponitka's triple-double / News - Basketnews.com

Mateusz Ponitka scored just the fourth triple-double in EuroBasket history, while Poland knocked out Slovenia out of the tournament.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Mateusz Ponitka scored just the fourth triple-double in EuroBasket history as Poland took down overwhelming favorite Slovenia 90-87 (29-26, 29-13, 6-24, 26-24).

Player of the Game EFF 40 Mateusz Ponitka Points 26 Accuracy 8-17 Rebounds 16 Assists 10

Mateusz Ponitka registered just the fourth triple-double in EuroBasket history. The Polish forward scored 26 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and made 10 assists for 41 PIR, breaking his personal bests in all four categories with the Polish jersey.

Although Poland led by one after the first quarter (29-28), the underdogs kicked it up a notch in the second quarter. Led by Mateusz Ponitka, the Polish went on an incredible 22-2 run to lead by a whopping 23-point margin (54-31).

Poland finished the first quarter without any turnovers and made their first just at the end of the first half. With Luka Doncic noticeably limping, Slovenia was down by 19 at halftime (58-39).

However, the favorites answered with a dominant run of their own in the third quarter. The Slovenians went on a 21-3 spurt to narrow the deficit to just one (60-61).

The story continued in the fourth quarter as Slovenia took a lead after a long time (65-64). Nevertheless, the Polish battled back and took the lead again with over 4 minutes to go (79-76).

Dissatisfied with the work of the referees, Luka Doncic, meanwhile, received his second technical foul of the tournament. In the following several minutes, Luka received two more personal fouls and had to leave the game with three minutes remaining and Slovenia down by four (80-76).

Without Doncic, Poland fired up even more and built a seven-point lead (87-80). Slovenia wasn't able to come back without its main leader, and Poland delivered the upset of the tournament.

It will be the eighth EuroBasket semifinal in Polish basketball history and the first in 51 years (1971).

Luka Doncic finished the game with just 5 made shots out of 15 and 6 turnovers in his account. Despite the struggles, the Dallas Mavericks superstar was approaching a triple-double as well with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists in his tally.

On the other side of the court, AJ Slaughter and Michal Sokolowski were tied-second in scoring with 16 points each. Slaughter also added 6 points and 4 assists on 6-for-14 shooting, while Sokolowski also contributed with 5 rebounds.

Slovenia: Vlatko Cancar 21 (5/7 2PT, 2/7 3PT, 5/5 FT), Goran Dragic 17 (6/11 2PT, 1/4 3PT, 5 REB), Luka Doncic 14 (2/7 2PT, 3/8 3PT, 1/4 FT, 11 REB, 7 AST, 6 TO), Jaka Blazic 13 (3/7 3PT, 5 REB).

Poland: Mateusz Ponitka 26 (5/13 3PT, 5/6 FT, 16 REB, 10 AST, 3 STL, 41 PIR), AJ Slaughter 16 (4/6 2PT, 2/8 3PT, 6 REB), Michal Sokolowski 16 (6/8 FT, 5 REB), Jaroslaw Zyskowski 14 (1/5 2PT, 3/5 3PT), Aleksander Balcerowski 11.

Mateusz Ponitka's highlights:

Full game highlights:

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