The Israel national basketball team fell to Poland 106-86 in the opening game of the second round of the World Cup qualifiers in a home game that was played in Riga. With the defeat the blue-and-white have effectively lost any realistic chance of qualifying for next summer’s tournament.

Poland opened the game in dominant fashion, with Mateusz Ponitka, Jordan Loyd and Aleksander Balcerowski putting on excellent performances and taking their team into the second quarter with an eight-point lead. The gap continued to grow in the second quarter as Jordan Loyd came into his own, as Ariel Beit Halachmi’s team went into halftime trailing 55–42.

The trend continued in the third quarter as Roman Sorkin, Yam Madar and Tamir Blatt were outdone by the likes of Andrzej Pluta and Jarosław Zyskowski who shot extremely well and extended the lead. Despite an excellent final quarter from Israel, which at one point looked as though it might bring them back into the game, the large deficit ultimately remained and Poland closed out a resounding victory.

Next up for Israel will be a road game against Latvia in Riga on Sunday night which will close out this window of games.

Ponitka scored 24 points, while Loyd and Balcerowski each scored 18 points in the win while Sorkin scored 26 points, Madar added 13 points and Blatt put in 11 points and dished out 10 assists.

Beit Halachmi spoke about the loss, “Even before this window, I wasn’t calculating our chances. After the previous two windows, the chances weren’t high, but we still need to play differently and look different. The fans and we deserve better than this. As for the availability of players, I think we had this conversation. More players did come during this window, but we’re still not at full strength. In the end, when you face national teams that come with all their players, it’s not easy.”

Roman Sorkin added, “We didn’t start the game well, and from there it deteriorated. We had to win today. The odds are against us, and they weren’t in our favor before this either. We need to come into the next game and play with pride, to restore some of our honor. To play for our pride, for our country, and for the people watching us at home. I’m sure everyone is disappointed, and we’re sorry about that. We’ll do the best we can with what remains.”