Turkiye handed another loss to Greece in 2023 basketball World Cup qualifiers

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye lost to archrivals Greece 76-67 in a Monday 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying stage match in Istanbul.

This was Turkiye's second consecutive loss to Greece in the World Cup qualifiers. On Friday Greece secured a 72-71 win in Athens.

The Group B game held at the Sinan Erdem Sports Hall was tight in the first and second periods.

Greece led the game 36-33 by the end of the second quarter.

The visitors displayed an emphatic performance in the third quarter to score 26 points against Turkiye.

The Turkish team clocked 13 points in that period, so Greece extended their lead to double digits, making it 62-46.

In the fourth quarter Turkiye scored 21 points but were unable to catch Greece. The visitors bagged 14 points to secure an away victory.

Greek pair Dimitrios Agravanis and Georgios Papagiannis led their team to the win.

Power forward Agravanis scored 22 points and took 11 rebounds.

His compatriot Papagiannis, who plays as center, produced 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Greek point guard Dimitris Moraitis scored 10 points.

Meanwhile, the Greek team's playmaker guard Kostas Sloukas added nine points and made nine assists.

Four Turkish players scored in double digits.

US-born Turkish point guard Shane Larkin scored 16 points to lead the home team. Larkin made six assists as well.

Melih Mahmutoglu racked up 15 points for Turkiye.

Turkish small forward Metecan Birsen posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Bugrahan Tuncer scored 10 points for the Turkish national team.

Greece are currently on top of Group B after getting their third win in four games.

Second-place Turkiye have a 1-3 win/loss record.

Turkiye lost against Belarus 84-70 in November, then beat Great Britain 84-67 before suffering consecutive losses to Greece last week and Monday.

Belarus and Great Britain are the other Group B competitors. Both teams are going 1-1 in this stage.

Ranked 16th in the world, Turkiye will face Belarus at home on June 30.

The Turkish team will then visit Great Britain on July 3 to conclude Group B.

- Road to World Cup

In the first round, 32 teams will compete in eight groups (A-H), playing home and away games. The best three nations in each group will qualify for the second round.

The qualifiers are held between November 2021 and February 2023.

While 24 teams will reach the second round to compete in four groups (I-L), only 12 European countries will go to the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which will be hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.