In Berlin, The Olympic silver medalist France defeated Turkey 87-86 in overtime on Saturday to go into the quarterfinals of the EuroBasket tournament behind 20 points and 17 rebounds from Rudy Gobert.
France never trailed in the extra period thanks to Gobert's putback dunk with 2.7 seconds left in regulation and his first four points in overtime.
Game is crazy," Gobert stated.
Uglier conclusion
With 12.2 seconds left in regulation, Turkey appeared to have complete control of the game. With the advantage of two points, it went to the line to take two free throws and would maintain the ball after those attempts since France had been called for an improper foul.
But Cedi Osman missed both shots, recalling the time he did the same thing late in the United States' one-point Basketball World Cup defeat in 2019. France managed to force a turnover on the subsequent possession, and Gobert's slam knotted the game.
Really difficult situation for us, but we were fortunate that he missed both, Gobert remarked. "Then we got a bucket, stole the out of bounds, and went into overtime. We did not stop. We were constantly at odds. We've always had faith. Although this was undoubtedly not our best performance, I am incredibly proud that we never gave up. Many teams would have given up in that circumstance.
Midway through the second quarter, France led by 16 points thanks to the combined 13 points from Thomas Heurtel and Evan Fournier.
However, Turkey went on a 19-0 run to end the third quarter, turning a 57-49 deficit into a lead heading into the last 10 minutes of regulation. During that time, France missed 11 shots in a row.
With just a few seconds left in overtime, Turkey had a chance to win, but Furkan Korkmaz lost control of the ball, and his side could not get a shot off.
I'm at a loss for words, Tuncer stated. "I'm furious. I'm depressed. If I am unable to say anything nice, I apologize. It's not acceptable.
France will face the victor of Sunday's Serbia-Italy match in the quarterfinals. The contest is slated to take place on Wednesday.
Turkey coach Ergin Ataman remarked, "I think it's the hardest emotional loss I've had in my 26-year career." "France, congratulations. I'm hoping they'll keep winning in the quarterfinals. That's it.
Slovenia, the defending champion, defeated Belgium with a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter on the strength of 35 points from Luka Doncic.
Slovenia's first 40 points of the second half were scored or credited as assists by Doncic and Goran Dragic.
Belgian basketball was excellent, according to Doncic, who has averaged 39.3 points over his last three games and 28 points in six tournament games overall. "We anticipated that this game would be challenging. They battled until the bitter end. But I believe we played a little bit better in the end.
Doncic led Slovenia with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Klemen Prepelic scored thirteen points, Mike Tobey finished with twelve, and Dragic added eleven.
Belgium was led by Manu Lecomte's 16 points and Pierre-Antoine Gillet's 15 points and ten rebounds.
I have been paying attention to "equality" for several weeks. But in basketball, there is no such thing as equality, according to Belgium's Dario Gjergja.
Slovenia's next battle will be on Wednesday against the winner of the Ukraine-Poland encounter in the quarterfinals. On Sunday, those teams will play.
Dennis Schroder scored 22 points as Germany held on to defeat Montenegro despite blowing a 27-point second-half lead.
Early in the third quarter, Germany was ahead 51-24; however, during the next 19 minutes, Montenegro outscored the home team 53-29.
However, Germany scored five free throws in the dying seconds to secure the victory, three of which came after a technical foul and unsportsmanlike conduct charge.
Franz Wagner and Maodo Lo each scored 14 goals for Germany. The teams facing each other in the quarterfinals on Tuesday are Greece and the Czech Republic, who played in the round of 16 on Sunday.
For Montenegro, Kendrick Perry scored 25 points, Bojan Dubljevic contributed 22, Marko Simonovic contributed 13, and Vladimir Mihailovic contributed 12.
Spain overcame several tense moments to defeat Lithuania in overtime thanks to Lorenzo Brown's 28 points, Willy Hernangomez's 21 points, and Lorenzo Brown's 28 points.
For Spain, who will play either Finland or Croatia in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Rudy Fernandez and Juancho Hernangomez both scored 13 goals. On Sunday, Finland and Croatia meet in the round of 16.
Spain never trailed in overtime after Brown scored the opening five points.
By getting a tip-in that rattled around the rim and fell as regulation time expired, Ignas Brazdeikis gave Lithuania a chance. But in the final 5:56 of the fourth quarter, Lithuania blew an eight-point lead, and Spain eventually tied the game on a basket by Brown with 2:23 remaining in the period.
With 18 points, Mindaugas Kuzminskas lead Lithuania. Domantas Sabonis and Lukas Lekavicius each got 15 points, while Brazdeikis scored 17.
Despite shooting 51%, 7% better than Spain, Lithuania lost despite Rokas Jokubaitis adding 13 points.
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