By Can Erozden
ANKARA (AA) - The French national basketball team defeated Türkiye 87-86 in a closely contested match after a thrilling overtime in Saturday's FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Round of 16 game.
With the win, Les Bleus made it to the quarterfinals.
Türkiye have been eliminated from the tournament.
France made a good start with a 7-0 run at Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena. Les Bleus then led the first quarter 18-11.
In the second quarter, France pushed the score to 31-15 after Vincent Poirier's slam dunk.
Türkiye narrowed the gap to single digits -- 33-40 -- after Cleveland Cavaliers small forward Cedi Osman hit a three-pointer with nearly a minute left to the break.
France led 43-35 by the end of the second quarter.
- Turkish national team comeback in 3rd quarter
In the third quarter, Türkiye struggled to tie the clash with a minute and 45 seconds remaining after Osman scored an alley-oop bringing the score to 49-49.
Turkish shooting guard Bugrahan Tuncer hit a three-pointer as Türkiye took the lead by 52-49. Ergin Ataman's men extended the gap once Tuncer scored another three-pointer near the end of the quarter, 57-49.
Türkiye spent a splendid third quarter scoring 22 points in a single period. Meanwhile, France racked up 6 points in only 10 minutes.
France made a 7-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter taking the score to 56-57.
With five minutes and 21 seconds left to the final buzzer, Les Bleus tied the clash 66-66 after Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot's three-pointer.
The game resumed tight with a minute and 15 seconds remaining. Türkiye were leading by 72-71.
France's Evan Fournier scored to put France in front, 73-72. But then New York Knicks guard Fournier fouled Furkan Korkmaz. The Turkish guard did not stumble in his free throw line, scoring all his free throws, 75-73.
France performed a foul to stop the clock after a turnover. Korkmaz hit two free throws as Türkiye made it 77-73.
The referee whistled an unsportsmanlike foul on French player Luwawu-Cabarrot with 11 seconds to go. But Osman missed two free throws to risk the game.
After a Turkish turnover, French center Rudy Gobert took a critical offensive rebound and made a slam dunk. The Minnesota Timberwolves center tied the thrilling game 77-77.
The showdown went to overtime that decided the winner.
- France win in overtime
In the five-minute overtime, Gobert was France's point threat, scoring five points.
Gobert also took five rebounds in the overtime to dominate the rim.
France were leading the game by 87-86 after Korkmaz scored from the free throw line.
With 13 seconds remaining in the overtime, Gobert was fouled but he missed both free throws.
Following Gobert's miss, Osman took the defensive rebound to give the ball to Korkmaz.
Korkmaz grabbed the ball as Türkiye rushed to France's half-court. The clock was ticking.
Philadelphia 76ers guard Korkmaz had a critical turnover as French forward Terry Tarpey stole his ball and dribbled to waste time.
The time was up and France won the match with a narrow margin, 87-86.
- Türkiye vs. France game's scorers
Gobert scored 20 points and took 17 rebounds to become France's hero.
French guards Fournier and Thomas Heurtel bagged 13 points each.
During the game, France grabbed 45 rebounds as a team.
Türkiye's Tuncer was the game's top scorer with 22 points. His teammate Korkmaz scored 18 points. Turkish center Sertac Sanli clocked up 12 points and Osman added 11 points for Türkiye.
France will play against either Serbia or Italy in the last eight.
The Serbia vs. Italy game will be held on Sunday in Berlin.
- Türkiye without Larkin in France clash
In the game against France, Türkiye lacked their star Shane Larkin for a finger injury.
US-born Turkish playmaker guard Larkin, who is in Istanbul for treatment, missed the remainder of EuroBasket 2022, Turkish head coach Ataman said on Friday.