Co-favorite France made it to the quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship with a lot of effort. The Olympic silver medalist beat Turkey 87:86 (77:77, 43:35) after extra time in Berlin and was just able to avert an unexpectedly early end on Saturday (September 10th, 2022).
In an exciting game, the French gave up a clear lead after the break and were two points behind just before the end. But then Turkey’s Cedi Osman missed two free throws before the outstanding Rudy Gobert saved France into extra time two seconds before the end.
Rudy Gobert outstanding
Gobert from NBA-Team Minnesota Timberwolves ended up with a strong 20 points and 17 rebounds. In the quarter-finals, the French, who lost to Germany at the start of the European Championship, will face the winner of the duel between Serbia and Italy, who meet on Sunday.
Luka Doncic again with 35 points in Slovenia’s victory
Defending champions Slovenia also reached the quarter-finals without much effort. The Slovenians prevailed against outsiders Belgium with 88:72 (44:41). Superstar Luka Doncic played a little less spectacularly than last time at the end of the preliminary round against Germany and France, but was still the best thrower with 35 points. In the quarter-finals, Doncic and Co. will play against the winner of the match between Ukraine and Poland.
Spain with a lot of effort
Spain progressed after a thriller. The world champion eliminated Lithuania in a duel at eye level with 102:94 (83:83, 40:45) after extra time. Ignas Brazdeikis saved the Balten, who had just reached the round of 16 after three defeats at the start of the tournament, with a tip-in in the last second of regular time into overtime. Lorenzo Brown was the decisive man with 12 points in the extra five minutes as Spain now face Finland or Croatia.