Greece win exhibition tournament in basketball beating Türkiye at home

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Greek men's national basketball team were crowned the 2022 Acropolis International Basketball tournament champions late Friday over an 89-80 win against Türkiye in Athens.

Türkiye led before the break 43-42 at OAKA Arena and were also 69-63 ahead by the end of the third quarter.

Greece, however, came back in the fourth quarter to win the match 89-80, and this year's title.

Turkish shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz scored 22 points to be the game's top scorer, and his teammate Cedi Osman racked up 17 for the visitors.

Hosts Greece were without their superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. But the 2021 NBA champion's younger brother Kostas Antetokounmpo scored 19 points against Türkiye.

Tyler Dorsey bagged 16 points for Greece, and Greek forward Kostas Papanikolau added 13 points to contribute to the victory.

Greece won all their three games to claim the Acropolis International Basketball title for the 18th time in history.

Founded in 1986, the tournament is held before major FIBA tournaments such as the EuroBasket, FIBA World Cup, and the Summer Olympics.

The EuroBasket 2022 will start on Sept. 1, with Türkiye, Greece, Georgia, and Poland among the 24 competitors.

It will be co-hosted by four countries – the Czech Republic, Georgia, Germany, and Italy.