The Serbian basketball team was defeated tonight in Riga by the Turkish national team 90:95 (18:19, 31:27, 24:28, 17:21), in the final, fifth round match of Group A at the European Championship.
Turkey finished the group stage in first place with all five wins, Serbia is second with a score of 4/1, and the teams of Latvia (3/2) and Portugal (2/3) are also advancing to the round of XNUMX from this group.
Serbia will play Finland in the round of 6 of the European Championship on Saturday, September XNUMX, while Turkey meets Sweden. The remaining two known pairs of the round of XNUMX are: Germany - Portugal, Lithuania - Latvia.
The best performance in the Serbian team was by Nikola Jokić with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Marko Gudurić scored 12 points, and Filip Petrushev scored one point less.
In the winning team, Alperen Shengun was better than the others with 28 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, Shane Larkin added 23 points, nine assists, while Cedi Osman scored 16 points.
Tristan Vukčević was not in the Serbian squad due to a minor injury.
Serbia took a 9:3 lead in two and a half minutes of play, and Aleksa Avramović crowned the Serbian team's good play with points.
Turkey quickly responded and tied the score at 11:11 with a three-pointer by Shengun, and then, led by Houston's center, reached plus eight (11:19).
By the end of the first quarter, Serbia had reduced the lead to 7:0 with a 18:19 run and went into the first half with that result.
After three and a half minutes of play in the second quarter, a technical foul was called on Turkey coach Ergin Ataman after he disagreed with the referee's decisions.
Despite the nervousness on the bench, Turkey took a 30:35 lead after Larkin's three-pointer, but in the next two minutes Serbia came back and made it three points (38:35) with a three-pointer by Vasilije Micić.
Serbia played better at the end of the second quarter and after Stefan Jović's free throws, went into the big break with a three-point lead (49:46).
Towards the end of the first half, Avramović left the field due to a foot problem, and did not return to the game in the second half of the match.
Serbia continued in a good rhythm at the beginning of the third quarter, when after a three-pointer by Nikola Jović they took the lead at 54:48, but Turkey soon responded and tied the game at 56:56 with a three-pointer by Kenan Sipahi.
Turkey's good shooting night continued at the end of the third quarter, when they took a 64:70 lead with two consecutive three-pointers by Larkin and Šengun.
Four consecutive points by Jokić followed, and the third quarter ended with Turkey's minimal lead (73:74).
It took Serbia three minutes of play in the final quarter to regain the lead, after Jokić's dunk for 78:76.
Serbia continued their good play with a three-pointer by Gudurić in the last second of the attack, as well as points from Ognjen Dobrić on a counterattack, which was enough for an 83:79 lead.
Serbia had several chances to break the deadlock, but failed. Turkey regained the lead with a three-pointer by Shehmus Hazer with 2:12 left (88:89).
With Jokić's points, Serbia entered the final minute with a minimal advantage (90:89), but by the end of the match, Turkey secured the victory from the free throw line.
Bonus video:
