Turkey fails to make last 16 in basketball World Cup

ANKARA

Turkey failed to make the last 16 teams in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup after a critical loss to the Czech Republic on Thursday.

Czech center Ondrej Balvin, with his “double-double,” showed a heroic performance against Turkey.

Balvin scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds at Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Center.

Czech forward Vojtech Hruban scored 18 points against Turkey. Hruban's teammate, Patrik Auda, also weighed large in the Czech victory.

Auda produced 16 points and took nine rebounds. Czech forward Jaromir Bohacik scored 15 points in Shanghai.

Meanwhile Czech star Tomas Satoransky -- a Chicago Bulls player in the NBA -- scored 11 points, had seven rebounds, and made seven assists.

Turkey star Cedi Osman was the match’s top scorer, as the Cleveland Cavaliers small forward produced 24 points for Turkey.

Furkan Korkmaz -- who playing for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers -- scored 16 points.

In addition, Fenerbahce Beko shooting guard Melih Mahmutoglu tallied 14 points for Turkey, but this was not enough to avoid Thursday's loss.

Similar to the U.S., the Czech Republic bagged the last 16 ticket after its win over Turkey.

Turkey failed to qualify for the second round in the World Cup, but will play classification matches in China 2019.

In Group E, Turkey only beat Japan but lost two consecutive group games against basketball powerhouse the U.S. and the Czech Republic.