Gobert saves France from elimination, Les Bleus outlast Turkey in OT

BERLIN (Germany) - France survived an almighty scare to advance to the Quarter-Finals at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 as they battled past Turkey for an 87-86 triumph to open the Knockout Phase.

They were just moments away from successive Round of 16 exits at EuroBasket, but Rudy Gobert's huge putback forced overtime and France were able to prevail in the extra period as Turkey had the chance to snatch victory on the final possession.

Turning point: France established a 16-point advantage in the first half and were still 49-38 ahead in the third before an inspired 19-0 spell spanning seven minutes saw Turkey surge in front. They went back-and-forth in the final quarter as overtime ensued and Evan Fournier hit a huge three to make it 86-83 and France held on, forcing a steal on the final possession.

TCL Player of the Game: When France needed him most, Gobert was there. Cleaning up the Fournier miss at the end of regulation and grabbing important offensive rebounds to finish with a double-double of 20 points and 17 rebounds in the win.

Stats don't lie: France more than doubled up their opponents with points in the paint (50-22) and this was the key to their early dominance. They also had important contributions from their bench, who combined to add 41 points.

Bottom line: It was almost disaster for France with a second successive Round of 16 exit, but they found a way to come through a titanic tussle as they now await the winner of tomorrow's Serbia-Italy encounter. Agonizing for Turkey, who battled back from 16 down and were a couple of seconds away from reaching the last eight. Bugrahan Tuncer starred with 20 points.

They Said: "I feel for Turkey because they can be really disappointed the way the game went. They had the opportunity to win it in regulation. They missed two free throws and turned it over on the last possession. But we kept fighting until the very end to survive." - France coach Vincent Collet

"We just never stopped fighting. We always believed. It was obviously not our best game. But the thing I am really proud of is the fact that we never gave up. A lot of teams would have gave up in that position. They probably wouldn’t have tried to make the play and steal the ball. We didn't, we kept fighting and we were rewarded for that." - Rudy Gobert, France

"This is maybe the worst emotional loss in my 26 year career. … Of course France won the game but I think we deserved to win. But this is basketball. Sometimes things happen that are a miracle. And this time a miracle happened against us." - Turkey coach Ergin Ataman

"I'm so sad, I'm so mad. I cannot find any nice words. This is unacceptable. This has happened to us two times. In 2019 (at the FIBA Basketball World Cup) we lost to United States. We were up by two points and we missed two free throws and we couldn't score. And it's happened again. I am so sad. We don't deserve this. We are a good team. We showed all of Europe this." - Bugrahan Tuncer, Turkey

FIBA