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Israeli Women Make Eurobasket!!!
Orli Klinger
,09/21/2007 |
Israel needed a Slovak win over Poland by anything between 2 and 19 in the final game of the last chance tourney. Poland came back from 16 down but missed a free throw with 29 secs left and a three with 3 secs left to give Slovakia a 76 – 74 win, and send Israel to their 4th ever European Championship.
Slovak Republic 76 – Poland 74
"I'll paint you the picture. Slovak bench crying on the right, Poland's bench crying on the left, and a bunch of Israelis jumping and hugging at center court". That's how assistant coach Tal Natan sounded minutes after Israel won the last chance tournament and the last ticket to EuroBasket 2007.
"We're going crazy. These girls deserve it, this crew deserves it, everyone deserves to be in the European Championship. We went through four amazing teams – Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, and we earned this by right", Natan continued. "The Slovaks were true sportswomen. We're thrilled to high heaven and we want this to continue". So do we.
Following the tight loss to Poland last night, 71 – 78, Israel needed Slovakia to beat Poland by anything between 2 and 19. Slovakia finished the job for Israel in real dramatic fashion.
Israel will now join group A in EuroBasket along with the defending champs of the Czech Republic, Turkey and Lativa. The top three teams move on to the next stage. Israel opens on Monday against the toughest hurdle – the Czech Republic.
The actual game was nerve wrecking, as all three possible scenarios looked realistic at some point. The Slovaks hung tight from the jump, and trailed just 34 – 38 at the half. The Slovaks exploded in the 3rd and won it 28 – 10 despite heavy foul trouble, and jumped to a 62 – 48 lead after three.
The lead grew to 16 early in the 4th. Poland came back thanks to many trips to the foul line and completed a quick 10 – 0 run on a Agnieszka Bibrzycka three to cut it to just 69 – 72 with 1:40 to play. Down 73 – 76 Poland had a chance to cut it to one, a final margin that would've clinched 1st for them, but they only made one of two free throws with 29 seconds left. With three seconds left Biba missed a three that could've also given the ticket to Poland, and it ended 74 – 76. Israel makes EuroBasket.
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