Zaccharie Risacher Struggles as France Takes Down Poland 83-76

France and Poland played in Katowice, Poland on Tuesday, Sep. 2, where France  (Image via FIBA/Courtside 1891)
By: Lucas Kochevar

France took down Poland 83-76 to improve to 3-1 in group play. Risacher struggled early as he only played five minutes in the second half. He finished with zero points, three rebounds and three assists. France looked to bounce back after suffering their first loss of Eurobasket against Israel on Sunday Aug. 31. 

As one of the host countries, Poland was ready to cheer on their team as they shot the ball well from three in the first quarter. France was still able to get where they wanted as they shot 9-for-10 from two-point range. Risacher struggled to shoot early on, but contributed elsewhere with three assists and rebounds to go along with two steals. Risacher couldn’t quite find his footing at any point in the first half as Poland held the advantage 44-41. France responded in the third quarter as they outscored Poland 19-11 to carry a five-point lead into the fourth. France and Poland went back-and-forth in the last period, but France held on to win as France’s leader Guerschon Yabusele led the way for France with 36 points.

Over the weekend at Eurobasket, the Hawks representation saw a mixed bag of results. Zaccharie Risacher and France were handed their first loss of Eurobasket against Israel, despite Risacher’s best efforts. Vit Krejci and Czechia remain winless as they suffered a blowout defeat against Nikola Jokic and Serbia. Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia had their best performance so far in a blowout win over Portugal, where Porzingis scored 21 points, including five three pointers. 

There will be some intrigue Sep. 3 as Hawks teammates, Krejci and Portzingis will face off against each other with their respective squads. The group stage will end Thursday Sep. 4 as Risacaher and France will play Iceland. From there, they’ll decide their fate. France will be without big man Alex Sarr as he was ruled out for the rest of Eurobasket with a calf injury. Risacher will be a key member that needs to contribute with Sarr out.