Montenegro Left Poleaxed

Weronika Idczak was the top scorer for Poland with 11 points as the team grinded out a vital win over Montenegro.

There was drama in more ways than one in Inowroclaw as Poland dug out a priceless 53-50 success against Montenegro to shuffle that little bit closer to claiming one of the two Final Round spots on offer in Group B.

The visitors had been expected to qualify comfortably after winning their first four games of the campaign but it's now two losses in the last three games for Montenegro with coach Miodrag Baletic also having the headache of dealing with a worrying back injury to the influential Jelena Dubljevic.

Exactly a week after losing to Serbia, it was the same outcome once again for the Montenegrins and indeed it had looked as if the writing was on the wall as early as the first quarter after falling 23-8 behind.

But to their credit, they worked themselves back into the contest and held Poland to just two baskets during the entire third quarter to create an entertaining but nerve shredding finish.

As if it wasn't already tense enough inside the Arena, a short delay with five minutes remaining on the clock due to a glitch with the lighting heightened anxiety for both teams with the game delicately poised.

With just sixty seconds left on the clock Jelena Skerovic drained a triple to tie the game at 50-50 before Poland won the game down the stretch from the free-throw line.

Skerovic had the chance to force the extra period but her last ditch three-point attempt was to be in vain.

With neither offence firing with any kind of fluidity or accuracy, a magnificent six blocks by Agnieszka Majewska was arguably the key factor for Poland.

Quotes Poland vs. Montenegro

Montenegro head coach Miodrag Baletic:
"The beginning of the match was very poor for us - we were losing lots of points. Moreover, due to back injury, we lost our strong player Jelena Dubljevic. I hope her visit to the hospital doesn't end with anything worse and she gets well soon. I congratulate the Polish team on winning. They did great job indeed."

Montenegro player Ana Turcinovic:
"Congratulations for the Polish team. Today they played really well in ofence and defence. We started really badly in defence. We constantly had to make up for the loss. I hope Jelena gets well soon and her problems from two years ago don't come back."

Poland head coach Jacek Winnicki:
"I congratulate the girls on playing with great involvement and determination. Once again we proved that we can play basketball and we are able to defeat strong European teams. Thanks to all spectators in Inowrocław- they created an amazing atmosphere!"

Poland player Joanna Walich:
"This competition was hard for us. We started really well and then came a weaker moment. We were fighting till the very end, at the same time showing our strong characters. We showed we are a tight team and we can play basketball."