Turks Survive Thriller Against Portugal

Ilkan Karaman had a double-double to help Turkey win and boost their chances of qualifying

Turkey trailed for much of the game but prevailed 79-69 at Portugal on Saturday night to remain in control of their own destiny in the EuroBasket Qualification Round.

A victory on Tuesday for Turkey at home to the Czech Republic would be enough for the Bogdan Tanjevic-coached side to claim a spot at the EuroBasket.

A defeat, however, would leave Turkey needing to finish as one of the four best third-place teams in the six groups.

Portugal led 54-47 early in the fourth quarter but the Turks held their nerve.

Turkey's Ender Arslan made a jumper to snap a 63-63 tie with 3:18 remaining.

Fouled on the shot, he went to the free-throw line and sank the attempt for a 66-63 lead.

Ilkan Karaman followed with a jumper to stretch the advantage to five.

Portugal got no closer than three points the rest of the way.

Karaman finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Mario Palma's Portuguese, who haven't won a game in qualifying all summer, dropped to 0-7.

They have one more chance to prevail in the Qualification Round with a battle against Belarus on Tuesday.

Quotes Portugal vs. Turkey

Portugal head coach Mario Palma:
"Coach Bogdan (Tanjevic) is one of the best in Europe. He was Turkey's head coach that led the team to a World Championship final. But Turkey is rebuilding the team now. I think ten points diference is too much for us. Turkey had two or three shots that decided the game. They deserved the win because they fought till the last minute. If we had won we would have also deserved it. Turkey killed us on rebounds (34-23) and they got more second chance shots. Although we had a better shooting percentage for the first time in this qualification they shot more times. In the end I'm very proud the team was fighting, playing with Turkey it's not easy."

Portugal player Paulo Cunha:
"We made a good job, Turkey is the vice-champion of the World and we had a hard work. We gave one hundred percent and fought to win. We could have won the game, but then Turkey made the right shots. We will keep fighting till the end, hoping we could win the last game against Belarus."

Turkey head coach Bogdan Tanjevic:
"This was a really important game to us. We overcame Portugal in the last minutes, all the energy, technique, we won then, but we could have lost it. It's nice to be lucky for a change. The game started badly, we had foreseen a bad future for us. But the second half we played better defense and we managed to stop the fantastic Claudio Fonseca. The game was excellent and we were very lucky. We need to win against the Czech Republic, and that messes with our system. We are psychological tired and worried about the next game."