FIBA World Cup: Turkey advances to Olympic qualifiers

Turkey wraps up China journey with the Classification Round match against New Zealand

By Fatih Erel

ISTANBUL (AA) - Despite losing to New Zealand 102-101 in the Classification Round 17-32 of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Monday, Turkey advanced to Olympic qualification.

Failing to make the last 16 teams in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup after a critical loss to the Czech Republic last Thursday, Turkey started playing classification matches in Guangdong, China.

The Turkish national team won their first game in the Classification Round, beating Montenegro 79-74 on Saturday, but lost the second game to New Zealand on Monday 102-101.

With these results, Turkey wrapped up its China journey and advanced to Olympic qualification.

Turkey's NBA star Cedi Osman of the Cleveland Cavaliers scored 32 points, while New Zealand's top scorers Rob Loe and Isaac Fotu responded with 17 points each.

For Turkey, sharp shooter Melih Mahmutoglu also scored 27 points but unable to prevent the loss.

Ersan Ilyasova, Furkan Korkmaz, and Sertac Sanli missed the match due to injury.

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