LODZ, Poland – Forward Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 points and came up with a key block in the closing seconds to guide Turkey to a 63-60 win over world champion Spain on Saturday in the second round of the European basketball championship.
Spain had the ball and a chance to win it with 12 seconds to play. Guard Sergio Llull drove to the basket, but Ilyasova got a hand on the shot and teammate Ender Arslan grabbed the rebound.
Center Semih Erden then hit a pair of free throws to seal the Group F win and keep Turkey unbeaten at the tournament.
“It’s a big win for us against a good team,” said Turkey forward Hedo Turkoglu. “We played hard and played together and won, so I’m happy what we did and hopefully we can continue like this.”
Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez led Spain with 16 points.
“It was a very, very close game,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “Both teams played really hard the whole time. Turkey did better things in the last four or five minutes.”
He also had no doubts about the play call in the final minute.
“We saw that Turkey put in four big men and we had quite a good penetrator in Sergio Llull,” he said. “He beat his man and had a clear advantage. I don’t know if it was a foul at the end.”
In another Group F matchup, Serbia beat host Poland, 77-72, behind 18 points and eight rebounds from Oklahoma City Thunder center Nenad Krstic.
“I think that for a young team, that is not so experienced, this game was a very big task,” said Serbia coach Duzan Ivkovic. “There was a lot of support for the Polish team. I think we controlled the game very well, and I think our defense was at a high level.”
Serbia took control early in the second half with a 13-0 run, sparked by a Nemanja Bjelica dunk and capped by a Milenko Tepic 3-pointer, to lead 56-40 halfway through the third quarter. (AP)