Montenegro did not disappoint in any test match before Eurobasket, and they did not do so against Turkey either - in a game in which they led after the first half, and were down 20 at the end of the game.
Our country's basketball players were defeated by Turkey in Istanbul - in the last check before Eurobasket it was 96:85.
Boško Radović's men played an excellent first half, led by Marko Simonović, but at certain moments in the second half, Ergin Ataman's powerful team "discovered" many of our national team's shortcomings.
The most efficient players for Montenegro were Igor Drobnjak with 23 points and Simonović with 20, Kyle Olmen scored 13, and Nikola Vučević and Andrija Slavković nine each. On the other side, the unsolvable enigma for our team was Alperen Šengun - the Houston center reached a double-double, 26 points and 11 rebounds.
The match started with mini-series, first Montenegro 5:0, so the host quickly went to 19:12. Turkey led for most of that time, but Simović "pulled" our team with a simultaneous shot - his eight consecutive points (two three-pointers) in the middle of the second quarter announced Montenegro's new lead.
Soon, our center hit another three-pointer and the lead arrived (38:36), after which Montenegro managed to maintain the advantage until the break (49:47).
Simonović, who moved from Bahçeşehir to Turk Telekom this summer, finished the first 20 minutes without a miss (4/4) from outside the 6,75 line and with 16 points.
Montenegro had a 55:49 lead in the second half, and Vučević and his teammates held on until a minute and a half before the end of the third quarter when Šengun escaped Zoran Nikolić, dunked and then hit an additional free throw for 69:61. Drobnjak soon lost the ball, and Erkan Yilmaz dunked for plus 10 (74:64).
After another in a series of counterattacks that followed mistakes in the attack by our guys, Turkey had 86:71, and after NBA alley-oops by Šengun and Adem Bono, it was a huge 93:73 - with three and a half minutes left.
In the following minutes, Montenegro showed character, Drobnjak hit two three-pointers, so the result was much more bearable in the end.
Montenegro travels to EuroBasket, which opens on Wednesday against Germany, after victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel, and losses in duels with favorites France, Greece and Turkey.
The group with Boško Radović's team also includes home team Finland, Lithuania, Sweden and Great Britain - the four best teams advance to the round of 16.
Bonus video:
