Paul Graham is back after a three-month break due to a knee injury and he has brought some luck to the team. Anwil Wloclawek has beaten Energa Czarni Slupsk in the quarterfinal game of the Polish Cup 65:63 and got promoted to the Final Four after the absence last year.
Deividas Dulkys, Paul Graham, Michal Sokolowski and Piotr Pamula didn't score even a single point before the break and Anwil Wloclawek was down by eight after two quarters, 27:35. Roderick Trice was the guy who caused the most problems for Anwil's defense but all in all the whole team of Energa Czarni Slupsk presented a stabel shape. American shooter had six points till the break, the same as Marcin Dutkiewicz, while Garrett Stutz and Jordan Hulls added five each.
Among Anwil's players, Danilo Mijatovic turned out to be the clutch first half player as he finished that period with 11 points. Serbian forward started the game badly, with three misses, but from the second quarter on, he found the rhythm. Energa Czarni was leading by eleven (21:10) when Mijatovic made three shots in a row and cut the lead to only four (17:21).
The support that hadn't been given from the other players in the first half, appeared after the break and that was the detail which decided on the final result. Deividas Dulkys opened the second half with his eight of team's 12 points and when he made a three-pointer, Anwil made the game tied 39:39. Another triple, from Piotr Pamula's hands a minuter later, let Anwil build its own margin of three, 45:42.
From that moment on, both teams launched their biggest weapons and played an even game till the final buzzer. Marcin Dutkiewicz tipped the scale for the guests as he made a distance shot (63:58) but the crunch-time was stolen by the hosts. Piotr Pamula made a shot as the first while Dulkys equalized to 63:63. Michal Nowakowski and Roderick Trice were trying to win the game for Czarni but they missed. What was the worse for the guests, Trice passed badly to Joseph Taylor and Pamula made a steal. Later Polish shooter got fouled by Taylor and stood on the line, making both shots (65:63). Trice and Nowakowski had two chances of changing the result, but they weren't allowed by the Anwil's defense.
Anwil Wloclawek won the game 65:63 and qualified to the Final Four of Intermarche Basket Cup Polish Cup after a previous-year absence. The Rottweilers will face a hosting team Slask Wroclaw in the semifinal.
Paul Graham returned from the three-month break caused by a knee injury. He played 16 minutes and showed a great team-oriented level of understanding basketball.
Anwil Wloclawek - Energa Czarni Slupsk 65:63 (10:19, 17:16, 24:16, 14:12)
Anwil: Dulkys 15, Mijatovic 14, Hajric 13, Katnic 8, Pamula 7, Sokolowski 3, Witlinski 3, Kostrzewski 2, Graham 0
Energa Czarni: Trice 15, Dutkiewicz 12, Stutz 7, Zimmerman 6, Hulls 5, Nowakowski 4, Snieg 4, Taylor 4, Jarmakowicz 3, Mokros 3