Oleksiy Pecherov scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Ukraine to an 80-74 win over Poland.

Despite the loss, Poland still will qualify for EuroBasket 2007 as the result of finishing first in Group A with a record of 4-2.

Ukraine improved to 3-3.

Vitaly Lebedintsev’s men jumped out to a 20-6 start to take control of the game and held a double-digit advantage for most of the entire game.

With the score tied at four, Ukraine would outscore Poland 16-2 over a five-minute stretch to take a double digit lead.

Serhiy Lishchuk led the way during the run by tallying six points, while Yevgeniy Podorvannyy capped the spurt with a three-pointer.

Ukraine held a 10-point lead at halftime and increased the difference to 17 (61-44) on a three-pointer from Pecherov with 2:06 to go before the end of the third quarter.

Pecherov’s jumper at the 7:32 mark in the fourth quarter made the score 74-55.

Poland attempted to comeback and got within six (76-70) with 1:58 to go, but Pecherov made a free-throw to break the Polish momentum as the Ukraine would hold on to claim victory.