Portuguese team takes the trophy home in Basketball
Portugal took the championship title for the II1 men’s basketball match at the 2022 Virtus European Summer Games.
Both the finalists, Portugal and France staged a heart-stopping match for the crowd at the Hala 100-Lecia KS Cracovia stadium today.
France took the lead in the first quarter by 23-18, but the Portuguese reversed the game in the second leading 28-24. But scoring 29 points more in the third quarter, the Portuguese created a massive lead of 57-28 which was then increased to 74-39 in the fourth quarter.
“Our strength was the teamwork and our coach’s strategies for the game. ” the team captain told Virtus.
Despite tasting defeat, the French team were seen demonstrating something extraordinary on the court. The team congratulated and cheered for the winning team whilst they made their way to the podium for the champions.
The French team had many first time players who had a great learning experience in this game according to the team coach.
“It was a very difficult match for our team as the team had new players. I think it was a fantastic experience for the team before the Global Games next year” said the French coach.
Bronze for Poland
The host country played against Italy for third place today and won with a huge lead of 67-31.
The Italian team was under a lot of pressure from the first quarter and could not recover until the end. With the match points of 22-8, 39-16,46-28 and 67-31, the Polish team thrashed the Italian team.
The star player from the Polish team was Patryk Nowakowski, who scored 32 points for the team, more than the total baskets of the Italian team.
“This win is very important for the team. We are a little disappointed that we didn’t make it to the finals but we are happy with what we have got,” said Kamil Nowakowski
Best Five Players
- Fabio Soares from Portugal
- Christiano Correia from Portugal
- Maduka Ndelo Junior from France
- Patryk Nowakowski from Poland
- Beiman Julio Pagliasacchi from Italy
Fair play award
The fair play award was presented to Matteo Galli from Italy.
