The Israel National Basketball Team fell to Georgia 101-90 on Sunday evening in a preparation game ahead of its two August window World Cup Qualifiers against Poland (Thursday) and Latvia (Sunday). Israel started the game well, led by Roman Sorkin, but from the second quarter onward, the teams battled closely, with each side going on its own run. Georgia had the final say, closing out the game with a 15-3 run.

Israel made 12 3-pointers at a 35% clip and received strong performances from Roman Sorkin (25 points) and Yam Madar (16 points, 8 assists), but struggled against Georgia’s physicality inside, as the hosts shot 69% on two-point attempts. The national team will fly to Latvia on Tuesday ahead of its two games against Poland and Latvia.

National team coach Ariel Beit Halachmi summed up the game, “We ran the things we wanted to work on throughout the week on the offensive end. I think we played well and gave a lot of players playing time, which may have hurt our rhythm a little. Overall, our offensive game flowed well. I think it was a good practice game for us overall and now we’re looking ahead to Thursday against Poland.

“Georgia has unusual size, but Poland and Latvia don’t. On the defensive end, we’ll need to improve some things, but every game is different. This is a practice game, so we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from it.”

On the game against Poland, “This is the most important game of the window and we’ll be ready for it. The Polish team has been playing together for several years and plays in the same style. They’re a very physical team and we’ve faced them quite a few times in recent years. I trust all of our players.”