The Israel Under-20 Men’s National Team finished the group stage at the European Championship in first place with a perfect 3-0 record, after defeating Poland 91-75 in a battle for the top spot in Group A.

Similar to the win over Finland, a huge run decided the game, this time one of 24-0 between the second and third quarters which turned a double-digit deficit into a 14-point lead on the way to a third victory in as many days. Next up for Head Coach Sharon Avrahami’s team will be a Round of 16 clash against Romania who finished in last place in Group B on Wednesday.

Israel started well as Mayer led the way with 7 points to help the blue-and-white grab a 19-13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Poland’s tough defense frustrated Avrahami’s squad as they held Israel to just 4 points in 5 minutes while Tymoteusz Sternicki went from deep to give his team a 9-point lead just two minutes before halftime.

However, Avrahami’s timeout sparked the young blue-and-white who upped the offensive tempo, as Daniel Sharon and Alon Michaeli scored while a Mayer dunk and a jumper by Shachar Doron, narrowed the gap to 40-37 by the break.

Israel came out of halftime on fire as they went on a 17-0 run to begin the third quarter after ending the seance with a 7-0 run thanks to excellent defense on one side of the court and up tempo basketball on the other to take a 54-40 lead after the 24-0 run in total.

A trio of triples by Poland cut the difference but they were unable to stop Michaeli who kept Israel ahead 68-55 after thirty minutes of action. Sternicki helped keep the game close but another crucial timeout by Avrahami bumped the lead back up to 15-points as Mayer scored 8 consecutive points to polish off the victory.

Alon Michaeli and Omer Meyer led the team as each recorded a double-double, with the former scoring 28 points and grabbing 11 rebounds and the latter putting in 24 points to go along with 11 assists as Doron scored 13 points in the win. Sternicki scored 22 points and Rafal Szpakowski added 15 points in the loss.

“We knew that Lithuania lost and that if we would lose, we would play them,” Avrahami said after the game. “We saw that Poland beat Spain so we knew that they were going to be a strong team, but we have a group of real proud players on this team, who played amazing defense and took the lead against a very physical squad. I have a great team that is doing an amazing job.”

Daniel Sharon spoke about the game that was, “We knew it was going to be a tough and physical game against a team with size and we didn’t play the way we really know how to in the first half. However just before halftime and into the third quarter wee raised our level of aggressiveness and intensity and we played how we know how to.”