Spain beat Türkiye 72-69, win Group A in EuroBasket 2022

Both teams to travel to Berlin for last 16, wait for their opponents in knockout stage

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Spanish national basketball team took a 72-69 victory over Türkiye in a Wednesday FIBA EuroBasket 2022 group game but both teams will be in the last 16.

Spain won Group A, having a 4-1 win/loss record while runners-up Türkiye were down to 3-2.

Despite the loss in Tbilisi, Türkiye will also travel to Berlin for the next stage that will begin on Saturday.

Thanks to Turkish small forward Cedi Osman's efforts, Türkiye led first quarter 18-17 in the Georgian capital. The 27-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers player scored 10 points in a single quarter.

Before the break Spain led the game 38-34 after the layups made by Jaime Pradilla and Lorenzo Brown. The game was tight until the final buzzer.

The third quarter was led by Spain 56-50 after Usman Garuba scored two consecutive layups.

Türkiye had a 9-0 run in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, but they were troubled in both offense and defense after Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun was fouled out.

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui scored after a critical offensive rebound to make it 69-65 for the Spanish national team as less than a minute was left to the final buzzer.

Türkiye kept their pressure after Osman scored a driving layup and a free throw, 68-69.

However, after Türkiye's turnover, Willy Hernangomez hit two from free throw line to make it 71-68 for Spain with 17 seconds remaining.

In the rest of the time, Spain did not let Türkiye make a comeback as they earned a 72-69 victory to complete the group as winners.

Willy Hernangomez was Spain's top scorer with 15 points, while point guard Brown scored 11 points for Spain. These two were the only Spanish players to score double digits.

Spain's Lopez-Arostegui scored nine points, and Willy Hernangomez's brother Juancho clocked up eight points.

Türkiye's Osman was the game's highest scorer as he bagged 20 points.

Furkan Korkmaz racked up 16 points, and Sengun posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The top four teams in each of the four groups will qualify for the Round of 16 with the final stage merely to be held in Berlin from Sept. 10-18.

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