Greece clinch thrilling 72-71 finish against Turkiye in 2023 basketball World Cup quals
Turkiye suffer 2nd loss in qualifiers after Kostas Papanikolaou makes 2 free throws with 3 seconds on clock
ANKARA
Greece sealed a hard-fought win over Turkiye on Friday with a score of 72-71 in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying stage.
Turkiye led the first quarter with 20-13, but the home side bounced back to make the score 40-32 at the end of the first half.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Greece took a four-point advantage with a score of 60-56 at the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall in Athens.
Fans witnessed a thrilling finish as Greece took a lead with two free throws made by Kostas Papanikolaou with three seconds remaining.
Turkiye had a final chance to beat Greece when, down 72-71, Shane Larkin missed three-pointers and Greece earned their second victory in Group B.
Georgios Papagiannis and Dimitrios Agravanis each scored 14 points to lead Greece.
Turkiye's Melih Mahmutoglu was the highest scorer with 21 points, Samet Geyik and Larkin each finished with 10 points.
This was Turkiye's second loss in three games.
In their next match, Turkiye will host Greece on Feb. 28, 2022 in Istanbul.
