Polonia Warbud made a very important step towards the FIBA Europe League play-offs with their win over Ukrainian outfit BC Kiev. Polonia now stand alone in 4th place in Group C, 1 point ahead of nearest rivals Aris Thessaloniki.

They also got a monkey off their back in beating Kiev. This is the 6th time in 3 years that the 2 teams have met in European competition, and the first time that Polonia were able to record a victory.

The first quarter proved to be the only part of the game where the home team struggled. They failed to contain Kiev’s inside-outside combo of Steven Goodich and John Celestand, and the visitors took a 17:19 lead into the first break.

Polonia shifted into gear in the 2nd quarter. Polonia guard Eric Elliott increased his defensive efforts against Celestand, while Samir Leric, Antonio Harvey, Leszek Karwowski and Michal Hlebowicki did the same against Goodrich.

Polonia led 40:32 at the break and 74:51 by the end of the third period. Coach Wojciech Kaminski rotated his players constantly so that his starters were fresh for the whole game, and by the middle of the 3rd quarter, Polonia were already cruising towards their 5th FIBA Europe League victory, and third in a row.

Eric Elliott was elected game MVP. He scored 18 points to go along with 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

Goodrich had a game-high 26 points for Kyiv, while Celestand added 19.