Greek tragedy turns to tale of triumph over Turkey in late twist

ANO LIOSA (Greece) - The fate of the game changed in a matter of seconds as Greece snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers. The home side had the final say in a game of runs to overcome Turkey for a dramatic 72-71 triumph.

Turkey were on the brink of an important road win when they went from running down the clock to sending Kostas Papanikolaou to the line for the chance to steal the win as Greece became the first side to two wins in Group B.

Turning point: Back and forth. Turkey made the first move with an 11-0 spell across quarters that included a halfcourt buzzer-beater from Dogus Ozdemiroglu. Then Greece answered: first with a 9-1 run before an 11-0 burst of their own as they soon led by as many as 15. The visitors were on the back foot, but twice rallied to set up a tense finale and looked set for the win following another 11-0 run before the hosts had the crucial final say.

Game hero: Down a single point with 3.0 seconds on the clock, Papanikolaou was the coolest person in the arena, knocking down a pair of game-winning free throws to spark jubilant scenes at the buzzer. It was an all-round team performance with Georgios Papagiannis and Dimitrios Agravanis the leading scorers with 14 points apiece.

Stats don't lie: There was little to separate the two sides with nine lead changes in a fiercely competitive encounter. Greece found joy through their bigs inside and scored 36 points in the paint to Turkey's 18. They were also at 50 percent from the free-throw line before Papanikolaou stepped up in the clutch.

Bottom line: The stakes get even higher for the return fixture in Istanbul with pressure on Turkey to not come away from Window 2 empty-handed. Greece have the momentum and with the chance to replicate the success, it could have long-term implications with results carried through to the Second Round - if both advance, as expected.

They said: "It was very important for us. I can't describe my feelings right now, but the job is not done. We need another win in Turkey and we will have to play very hard defense," - Dimitris Moraitis, Greece

"It was a huge win for us. It was a must-win game if we want to make it to the World Cup and this is what we did. I want to say thanks to all the fans that gave us a great help - this is how basketball games should be," - Greece head coach, Sotiris Manolopoulos

"A lot of players making sacrifice to play for the national teams. A couple of minutes cost us the game. We will be ready for the second game; we don't have time to be sad about this so we will forget about it and prepare for the next one," - Oguz Savas, Turkey

"Both teams put in great effort on the court. For us, we should win the game. After the end of the third quarter, we played good defense. We had small mistakes and if we could have done differently, it was a win today. We have a second game and it will be much more difficult," - Turkey head coach, Orhun Ene

• Dimitris Moraitis [/unordered]
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