France beat Poland 95-54 to reach the final of this year’s EuroBasket. Vincent Collet’s team, armed with defense, got a comfortable qualification.

The French return to the EuroBasket final after 2013 where they won the gold medal. At the same time, they are on the podium for the 4th time in the last five competitions (in EuroBasket 2017 they took 12th place).

France will play either Germany or Spain in the final. The Poles, after an excellent qualification over the Slovenes, ran out of strength. Igor Milicic’s team will win bronze in the small final.

The Poles took advantage of the mistakes of the French and took the lead 2-0, while Ponitka kept the Colet players from the basket for a long time. The defense of the typical guests increased dramatically and gave them a 2-8 lead with Fournier’s 3-pointer. The Poles responded with Slaughter 5-8, but France found rhythm in attack and took a 6-13 lead with Jabusele. The first quarter ended with the score 9:15.

The Kole players continued to play at the same pace, and in the second period, using their defense as a weapon, they created an advantage. The French made it 14-27 with a Poirier dunk after Gobert hit. Tarpey brought the difference to 16 points (16-32), and the second quarter ended 18-34 with a basket from the center of the Utah Jazz.

In the third quarter, France’s dominance was total. Djabusele made it 18-39 with a basket and a foul, and with the same player’s 3-pointer, the standard guests reached +25 (23-48) and the Poles looked like they had given up. The French reached 36-64 at the end of the third period, essentially clearing the qualifying case.

The fourth quarter was typical as the French continued to play at the same pace. The difference reached 39 points (41-80) with Poirier’s 1/2 throw. With the same player’s nail, Cole’s team went up to +42 (50-92), doing everything they wanted on the pitch.

Quarters: 9-19, 18-34, 36-64, 54-95.

Poland (Milicic): Baltserovski 5 (2/8 shots), Tsel 3 (1), Dzieva 5 (0/4 shots, 4/6 shots), Garbay 5 (1), Kolenda, Michalak 9 (2), Oleinicak 2, Ponitka 7 (3 /10 shots, 1/2 shots, 2 assists, 4 assists), Shenk 2, Slaughter 9 (3/7 3-pointers), Sokolovsky 2, Ziskowski 5 (1).

France (Cole): Albicci 3 (1), Fall 6 (3/4 2-pointers, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), Fournier 10 (2/5 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Gobert 6 (6 rebounds, 3 blocks), Ertel 7 (1 3-pointer, 6 assists), Luau Cabaro 4 (1), Malendon 3 (1), Ebaye 8 (2), Okombo 10 (3/3 3-pointers, 4 assists), Poirier 8 (4 rebounds, 3 assists), Tarpy 8 (4 rebounds), Yabusele 22 (5/6 2-pointers, 4/6 3-pointers, 0/1 field goal, 4 rebounds, 2 steals).