Our A National Men’s Basketball Team, which is in Group B of FIBA 2023 World Cup Qualification, hosted Greece this evening in its fourth match. 12 Giant Men were defeated by the score of 76-67 in the fight played at Istanbul Sinan Erdem Sports Hall.
With this result, our Nationals had their 3rd defeat in the Organization.
A National Team ; Larkin, Melih Mahmutoğlu, Metecan Birsen, Samet Geyik, Oğuz Savaş started with the top 5, while Greece started with the top 5, Moraitis, Larentzakis, Papanikolaou, Agravanis, Papagiannis.
In the first period played at high tempo, Metecan Birsen and Agravanis led their teams with 8 points each, while Greece closed the period ahead 17-15.
Having made a good start in the second period, the crescent-stars managed to take the lead by defending their opponent well, while Greece stepped up in the second part of the period and went ahead 36-33 into the locker room.
While Greece improved its offensive and defensive performance in the third quarter, the away team was ahead by 16 points, with Papagiannis’ effective under-pot play and Sloukas stepping in: 46-62.
Making a great start to the last period of the match, the National Team reduced the lead to 2 with a series of 14-0 with 5 minutes and 30 seconds remaining: 60-62. In the remaining part of the match, with the recovery of Greece in attack and defense, the national team could not take the lead in the score and left the park with a 76-67 defeat.
Minister Kasapoğlu followed the match from the stands
Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu followed the Turkey-Greece match from the stands. Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) President Hidayet Türkoğlu and TBF CEO Ömer Onan were among the names who followed the match in the stands.
SALON: Sinan Erdem
REFEREES: Yohan Rosso (France), Aleksandar Glisic (Serbia), Lorenzo Baldini (Italy)
TURKEY: Larkin 16, Melih Mahmutoğlu 15, Metecan Birsen 12, Samet Geyik, Oğuz Savaş 6, Furkan Haltalı 4, Buğrahan Tuncer 10, Erten Gazi, Okben Ulubay 2, Doğuş Özdemiroğlu, Sadık Emir Kabaca 2
GREECE: Moraitis 10, Larentzakis, Papanikolaou 8, Agravanis 22, Papagiannis 21, Sloukas 9, Kalaitzakis 3, Mouratos, Kouzeloglou 3, Gontikas, Gkikas
1st PERIOD: 15-17
FIRST HALF: 33-36
3rd PERIOD: 46-62
Our Men’s National Team, which is in Group B in the organization, lost to Belarus with a score of 84-70 in their first away window match, and defeated Great Britain with a score of 84-67. In the first match of the second window, our Crescent-Stars lost the away game against Greece with a score of 72-71.
How to stay on top?
According to the format announced by FIBA, the top three teams in their groups will advance to the next round. Teams will carry the points they collected in the first group stage to the next group. If our nationals take the first three places in the group, they will be matched with the teams that completed the first three places in Group A. The 12 teams that take the top three places in their groups in the second round will qualify to compete in the FIBA 2023 World Cup.
