SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - France and
Turkey came out on top of two thrilling classification games and will now go
head to head on Saturday to claim fifth place.
Mickael Gelabale made a double clutch lay up with 1.8 seconds left to play as
France held off Germany 75-73.
Joseph Gomis converted an acrobatic three-pointer from the right wing to tie
the game at 73-73 with 20 seconds left to play.
France had a chance to go ahead as Boris Diaw stripped the ball from Ademola
Okulaja on an inbound pass and was later fouled.
Diaw though missed both free-throws but made amends immediately as he ran
back on defense in time to steal a rushed pass by Demond Greene who was trying
to get the ball up court quickly.
With less than 10 seconds left, France's captain ran the other way and fed
Mickael Gelabale who went along the baseline, caught Diaw's pass and hit the
winning basket over Dirk Nowitzki.
Germany called time out and as expected went to Nowitzki, but the forward
stepped out of bounds after he caught the ball.
France were led by their bench players as Gomis had a team-high 17 points -
including three-for-three from beyond the arc - and Ronny Turiaf tallied 15
points and 6 rebounds. Diaw chipped in with 13 points, eight rebounds and three
assists but also had eight turnovers.
A night after being held held in check by Team USA, Nowitzki went off for 29.
Steffen Hamann added 12 and Robert Garrett finished with 10 off the bench.
The game saw eight lead changes and six ties.
France were the better team in the first half, going ahead by as many as 11,
31-20 on a put back by Turiaf.
However Germany fought back and a three-pointer by Sven Schultze at the first
half buzzer cut the deficit to seven, 38-31.
Dirk Bauermann's men kept clawing back in the third quarter and eventually
took the lead, 52-50 on another shot by Schultze with 1:20 left in the period.
The teams then traded the lead for the rest of the game, with the gap never
bigger than four points.
Nowitzki gave Germany a 69-66 lead but Diaw countered at the other end to
keep France close, 69-68.
Laurent Foirest made two free-throws to put Les Bleus ahead, 70-69, but
Nowitzki made another tough shot and Okulaja converted two free throws to give
Germany a three-point cushion, 73-70.
However Gomis hit a big shot to tie the game and Germany's late turnovers
proved costly.
In the day's first game, Turkey stormed back from a 10-point deficit with
less than three minutes left to send their contest against Lithuania to overtime
and eventually prevailed 95-84 after the extra session.
Turkey trailed 67-57 with 2:27 left in the final quarter and despite their
courageous run were still behind by five, 74-69, with only 28 seconds left to
play.
But Engin Atsur made a lay up and after Linas Kleiza converted one of two
free throws, Ender Arslan was fouled with 11 seconds left. He made his first
free-throw for a 75-72 score, but missed the second one.
However Lithuania weren't quick enough to stop him from chasing down his own
miss and Arslan launched a desperation three-pointer from the right corner that
tied the game at 75-75 with nine seconds left to play.
Lithuania still had a chance to win, but Mantas Kalnietis turned the ball
over and all of a sudden it was Turkey who had a chance for a come from behind
win. However Ermal Turkoglu missed at the end of regulation.
He would not miss in the early stages of the overtime though, hitting a tough
hook shot and a three-pointer from the left wing on consecutive possessions to
put Turkey ahead 80-75.
But Darius Lavrinovic made a three of his own and Arvydas Macijauskas hit a
pair from the charity stripe, closing the gap to 81-80, the closest Antanas
Sireika's men would get as Ersan Ilyasova then got hot for Turkey.
The forward hit a jumper before coming up with a steal and finding Kurtoglu
who went in for a dunk on a breakaway to put them ahead by four, 85-81.
Ilyasova later caught and converted Arslan's alley oop pass for an emphatic
dunk and the latter'slay up gave Turkey a 90-81 lead with 46 seconds to play and
Lithuania were unable to find some magic for a final comeback of their own.
Kurtoglu finished with a game-high 24 points - 10 in overtime - and Arslan
added 18.
Songaila led the way for Lithuania with 17 points and Kleiza chipped in with
14.
Germany will take on Lithuania for seventh place on Sunday.
