Turkey falls to Czech Republic in EuroBasket Qualifier
Tomas Satoransky drives the to the hole. Photo courtesy FIBA
The Czechs took a slight margin into the second quarter, 21-19, but put on a small run 8-2 to start the second quarter and extend their margin to eight, 29-21. Turkey got back-to-back jumpers from Sinan Guler and Ilkan Karaman, then a three-pointer by Emir Preldzic and a dunk by Karaman and the score was 31-30 with 3:24 in the half. Turkey wouldn’t score again, but CR knocked down a jump shot and split two sets of free throws to walk into the locker room with a 35-30 advantage.
The hosts picked up where they left off, hitting the first five points of the half and building a 10-point lead before Turkey would get there first points in 6:39 of playing time. Kerem Gonlum found an opening and got a lay-up then Serhat Cetin sank a three to bring Turkey back to within five. The Czechs used their inside game to expand the margin to 10 behind two lay-ups and two dunks, bringing the score to 51-41 with 3:22 in the quarter. Jakub Kudlácek nailed a three-ball to push the margin to 13, but Turkey got two free throws from Guler and a lay-up in the closing seconds of the quarter to take a nine point deficit into the final stanza.
The home squad ran off the first nine points in the fourth to push their lead to 18 with 8:05 to play. Turkey couldn’t find the bottom of the basket during the run and couldn’t stop the Czechs from scoring. Cetin stopped the drought with a triple, then Semih Erden took over the middle with a hook shot for two and a lay-up that he scored and was fouled on. He sank he free throw to complete the three-point play and reduce the margin to 12. A Preldzic lay-up cut the lead to 10 with 3:00 to play, prompting the hosts to call a time out. It turned out to be a profitable break for the Czechs as they went on a 13-5 run to close out scoring and earn the Group F victory. The win puts the CR in second place in Group F behind 4-0 Italy and puts Turkey in third at 2-2.
Tomas Satoransky led the hosts with 16 points, Petr Benda scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jiri Welsch also sank 14, as did Kudlácek.
Turkey was led by Gonlum and Erden’s 13 points, Cetin added 12, and Preldzic contributed 10.