Turkey tops Group F of the tournament as they beat reigning World Champions and Olympic Games finalists Spain 63-60.
It was a thrilling and close game with many ups and downs for both teams. Both Spain and Turkey had many small runs throughout the game giving them small leads that would be immediately answered by the opponent. The first quarter saw Spain up by 2 (20-22) while Turkey went into halftime up by 2 themselves as they won the second quarter by 16-12.
In the second half, defenses became even tighter leading to a low scoring game. Spain managed to trim Turkey's lead to just one point after the third quarter (49-48).
With 5" to go Turkey was leading 61-60 with Spain having the possession and the chance to win the game. Sergio Llull's attempt to dunk the ball however was blocked by Ersan Ilyasova and Turkey run to fast break receiving an unsportsmanlike foul and converted it to the final 63-60.
TURKEY 63-60 SPAIN
Turkey: Yarangume, Guler 2, Atsur 3, Onan, Ilyasova 15, Erden 11, Tunceri 11, Savas 2, Asik 13, Arslan 4, Hersek, Turkoglu 2
Spain: P.Gasol 16, Fernandez 16, Rubio 3, Navarro 7, Claver, Reyes 8, Cabezas, Lopez, Llull, M.Gasol 7, Mumbru, Garbajosa 3
Game quotes:
Bogdan Tanjevic (Turkey Coach): "The key to the win was our transition defense, we used a lot of energy for this. It's another game which will help us reach our goal of making top four of this tournament."
Sinan Guler (Turkey Guard): "The key to winning this game was to stop Spanish players from getting too many offensive rebounds. In the first half they had 10 rebounds, in second half only three. We showed great courage and hustle, and we executed some big plays offensively and defensively."
Sergio Scariolo (Spain Coach): "It was a very close game and both teams played very hard. Congratulations to Turkey, they were better over last five minutes of the game. They had many offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and they played excellent defense. Now we need to focus on our next game against Lithuania. After I took a time-out I saw that Turkey put four big guys on the floor and we wanted to play 1-on-1. Sergio Llull beat his defender, but he was blocked. I don't know if he was fouled or not."
Raul Lopez (Spain Guard): "We played a very good game, but to win against such a good team like Turkey you need a concentration for the full 40 minutes. We didn't do it and that's why we lost. We will keep growing as a team and now we need to rest, and think positive about next games. We still believe we can win here."
