Turkey book World Cup place despite loss to Montenegro

PODGORICA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Turkey lost 71-66 to Montenegro in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers but despite the defeat still qualified for the first-ever 32-team showpiece event in China.

The result saw the Turks drop to 7-3 in Group I but they are guaranteed of finishing, at worse, third as they have tie-breakers over Montenegro, Latvia and Ukraine. As such, they become the seventh team from Europe to punch their ticket for next year's World Cup, joining Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania and Spain.

Nikola Jovanovic paced the hosts with 21 points and Bojan Dubljevic had a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Balkan side improved to 6-4 thanks to their second victory in this window - and their fifth in the last six Qualifiers - to stay alive in their quest for a first-ever World Cup appearance.

Semih Erden and Dogus Balbay had 14 points apiece and Scottie Wilbekin added 13 for Turkey. 

Turning point: Turkey led 53-45 late in third quarter when Ivanovic nailed a three-pointer and Dubljevic hit back-to-back long bombs to help Montenegro take a 58-55 lead after three quarters. Blagota Sekulic’s three-pointer early in the final period made it 64-55 and Turkey never got closer than 3 points the rest of the way. Erden missed two free throws with 46 seconds left for the visitors and Dubljevic scored with 7 seconds left to secure the win.

Game hero: Dubljevic was Mr. Do-It-All for Montenegro with 17 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assist.

Stats don't lie: Montenegro won the game on the glass with 41 rebounds to Turkey’s 26. Turkey shot just 5 of 18 (28 percent) from beyond the arc and Montenegro were considerably better, hitting 10 of 26 attempts (39 percent).

Bottom line: Montenegro are alive and well in the fight to reach the World Cup and will play at Ukraine and host Latvia in the final window in February 2019. Meanwhile, Turkey, the runners-up at the World Cup they hosted in 2010, will take part in a fifth consecutive World Cup next summer.

They said: "I'd like to thank my players for the real fight they put up, a real game, and our huge gratitude goes to the crowd today. They came in numbers, cheered us on and helped us prevail when we needed it. They really pushed us, there was a synergy created here with our effort and their loudness, it was all connected. After the game in Latvia, we knew that everything was in our hands. We needed a couple of wins, now we need one more, as far as I understand, which means we are so close, but so far away from the World Cup at the same time. I can only wish that my players continue with their great seasons for their clubs, that they remain healthy, avoid injuries, so once we get back together in February, we can attack the World Cup." - Montenegro head coach Zvezdan Mitrovic

"In the third quarter we were up 8 points but unfortunately they came back and hit some three-pointers. I think we did a bad job on rebounding. They beat us on rebounds, we should have done a better job on that. But now we have to focus on beating Slovenia in February." - Turkey guard Dogus Balbay

"We played pretty well in the first half but in the second half Dubljevic really helped the team get back on track. Our plan worked well in the first half, but unfortunately in the second half we had some easy fouls called against us so they had a lot of points off free throws and also 10 points off offensive rebounds so that really hurt us. But us talking about our mistakes doesn’t take anything away from Montenegro’s effort and great play in this game. They really played well, especially when they were eight points behind. They came back really well. We have many young players on the roster and in this atmosphere it was really difficult for them to make really easy mistakes. And that also cost us the game." - Turkey head coach Ufuk Sarica

FIBA