Polonia-Warbud Warszawa 98 BC Kiev 76

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.

Quotes Polonia Warbud - BC Kiev

Wojciech Kaminski, Head Coach Polonia:

"It was our sixth game in the last three years, and just our first win! I’m very happy that we won woth such a big difference in points! It was a very tough game especially in first quarter, but we played very good in the remaining three quarters. We were afraid of this game, especially after Kyiv won by 39 points game against Bamberg last week."

Vitaliy Lebedyntsev, Head Coach Kiev:

I’m not so happy that we lost this game, but the regular season is not finished. I think that our next games will be not as tough as Polonia’s games, because our opponents must play away games in Tel Aviv, Bamberg and Thessaloniki. It was important game for us, but I hope we will qualify to play offs. I congratulate to Polonia and to coach Kaminski.

Leszek Karwowski, Polonia:

"Playing against Kiev is very tough. We focused on this game and I am very happy that we won."

Andriy Lebedyev, Kiev:

"Congratulations to Polonia. Their defense was very strong in three quarters, this is why they won. We didn’t play as a team."