Susijeng’s brilliant start to the EC tournament withered into an overtime loss – according to the head coach, Finland fell into its original sin

Finland will face Poland in its second European Championship match on Saturday at 15:00. Broadcast on Areena and TV1 at 14:45, the broadcast will switch to TV2 at 15:50.

The Finnish men’s national basketball team started the EC tournament against Israel. Israel won the match 89–87 in overtime. The actual game time ended with readings 79–79.

Also in the previous European Championships, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland’s opening match went to overtime, but then Susijengi was able to pull off an amazing victory over France 86–84. Now Israel got paid the fishing debts to Finland for the World Cup qualifying loss from last week.

Finland’s best scorer in the match was Lauri Markkanenwho showed with 33 points and 12 rebounds that the surprising NBA move will not disturb Susijengi’s EC tournament too much.

– It was a typical opening match of the tournament. We started the game great, but Israel was good. I must say that they had done their homework from last week. Israel was this much better, let’s respect the result, said Susijeng’s head coach Lassi Tuovi.

Israel was able to vaccinate Finland’s defense from situations that it failed to deal with last week in the World Cup qualifying game in Tampere.

– The biggest thing was that they made the game slow for us. Our attack stopped and we started to play more one on one. It is an original sin for us that must be avoided. We will try to make repairs to it by tomorrow, said Tuovi.

Finland will face Poland on Saturday at 15:00. Tuovi believed that there will be a lot of cross-play in the group, and it is not worth putting your head in the bush because of one loss. On Saturday, Finland needs to get the attack going better and refine its defense.

– We didn’t get that many stops to speed up the game. Tempo at both ends of the field is the important thing, Tuovi stated.

Both teams sank the runners-up 44 percent of the time. Finland’s three-point percentage was 39, Israel’s 30. Free throws Finland shot perfectly with 95 percent certainty, Israel 73 percent.

Finland lost the ball 18 times, Israel 9. Exploits Israel won 10–5.

Petteri Koponen stated that small details turned the game for Israel.

– Both teams fought for 45 minutes. Little things made the difference, that’s what it’s like in this tournament. The best part is that there is no time to worry in this tournament.

Koponen swore that the eyes in the booth have already turned to Saturday and the match against Poland.

– Of course, this doesn’t change anything. This is a tight group, games can cross paths.

Although Koponen, who will end his career at the European Championships due to a hip problem, has admitted that he has to play with pain from time to time and the last season has been quite a battle with his body, he promised to be ready on Saturday.

– The young people were amazed at the pace of the game. I told the youngsters that there used to be five games on one rest day. Now there are two rest days, it’s already a luxury.

Finland started the match brilliantly. Jantunen scored the opening basket, Salin made a three-pointer and Markkanen dodged his way to the dunk.

Markkanen already recorded 11 points in the opening quarter. When the first ten-minute buzzer sounded, Markkanen scooped Koposen’s throw in the rebound, which also ignited the entire Finnish bench.

At its best, Finland already led by 14 points in the second quarter, 30–16. After that, Israel’s scoring streak began. At the end of the second quarter, Israel had a six point streak. The break was tied at 40–40.

– In the second quarter, Finland remained very static in attack and thus had to defend in a weak position. Finland didn’t get stops that would have allowed them to run up the field. The rhythm simply changed in favor of Israel, summed up the expert in ‘s commentary of the first half Pieti Poikola.

Israel started the second half better. The wolf gang had to pick up some difficult throws. Israel, on the other hand, showed why it is talked about as one of the best in Europe in fast attacks.

After Finland’s timeout, Madsen was on fire. He sank a three, blocked a shot on the defensive end and immediately sank another three.

Finland hung in there and got even, 61-61, at the end of the third quarter. Palmi, who brought energy from the bench, sank a three-pointer and Maxhuni succeeded in the last seconds.

In the last quarter, Finland led by six points at its best. Israel again hurt the side, among other things by Tamir Blatt at three.

In the last two minutes, Markkanen managed a three-pointer, two jumpers and a two-point shot. But 22 seconds before the end, Finland’s attack faltered and Markkanen took a really difficult second, which did not sink. Israel had the last possession. Gal Mekel fooled Salini and got to a fairly easy spot, but the lay-up hit the back iron. Finland made it to extra time.

In the five-minute overtime, Israel was clearly more advanced, although Markkanen brought Finland even further with a three-pointer with 1:30 left on the clock.

– Finland became passive in the last three minutes. Finland got stops, but stopped running, stopped the aggressive game that gave them the lead, expert Poikola summed up after extra time.

Finland will face Poland in its second European Championship match on Saturday at 15:00. Broadcast on Areena and TV1 at 14:45, the broadcast will switch to TV2 at 15:50.