The Turkish national basketball team defeated Greece 94:68 in the second semifinal of the European Championship, qualifying for the final after 24 years of waiting. There, the Turks will compete with the German team, which previously defeated the Finnish team, BTA reported.
The Scandinavians will play the Greek team for the bronze medals. For the Turks, the victory has emotional significance because it was achieved at the European Championship for the first time since 1975.
Sunday's final in Riga pits two teams that have won all eight of their matches to date. For Turkey, participating in the EuroBasket final is the second in history. In 2001, in the decisive match for the title, they lost to the Yugoslav team with 69:78. For their part, the Germans will play for the gold for the third time, as first in 1993 they became champions with a victory over Russia with 71:70, and in 2005 they lost to Greece with 62:78.
The player of the match was chosen as the top scorer of the Turks today, Ercan Osmani, who finished the match with 28 points, 18 of which he scored in the first half. His statistics included 5 more rebounds and 2 assists. Alperen Şengün added 15 points, 12 rebounds and 6 finishing passes for the winners. Kostas Sloukas responded for the Greek team with 15 points.
The Turks started the game actively and at a fast pace, inspired by Ercan Osmani's three-pointers in the first quarter and finished the first 10 minutes with a 26:16 lead. Osmani was the star of his team with 14 points in the quarter. Turkey continued its impressive performance in the second quarter and increased its lead, thanks to the pressure of Seamus Hazer in the front positions and the defensive skills of the tall players under the baskets. Shengun, who is a contender for the title of the most valuable player of the entire championship, in these moments preferred to do thankless work - passing and taking the ball away from the opponent. But everyone helped each other and Turkey led 49:31 at the end of the second quarter and entered the locker room with an 18-point lead.
For its part, the defense against Greece's star Giannis Antetokounmpo was very good and the Milwaukee Bucks player from the NBA finished with only 4 points in the first 20 minutes, as well as eight rebounds and two assists.
After the break, the dominance of Shengun and captain Cedi Osman allowed Turkey to establish even more serious superiority and before the last 10 minutes the score was 72:51. By the end of the half, the Greeks never returned to the game, and in the end they did not even find the strength for a final push.