FIBA World Cup 2019: Top 5 individual performances from Day 7

#3 Mateusz Ponitka - Poland

Mateusz Ponitka played a key role as Poland maintained their unbeaten start to the World Cup

Poland made it four straight wins thanks to a late comeback against Russia. The Russians dominated for long periods, although after trailing for the majority of the game, Poland put together a fourth-quarter run to steal the win. Adam Waczynski scored 18, although it was Mateusz Ponitka that made the biggest impact.

The 26-year-old struggled from the field, but reached 14 points after connecting with all nine of his attempts from the free-throw line. Ponitka also led the way with 9 rebounds, while only Lukasz Koszarek bettered his tally of 3 assists.

On the defensive end, Ponitka came up with 3 steals and 1 block, and the Polish were 8 points better off with him on the court. Whether or not Poland can defeat a team such as Serbia remains to be seen, although Ponitka and his teammates continue to defy expectations.