France and Spain needed respective overtimes to beat Turkey and Lithuania in the EuroBasket Round of 16. Slovenia and Germany also qualified to the quarterfinals.
EuroBasket Round of 16: France, Slovenia, Germany, Spain win
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France beats Turkey in overtime, 86-87
In a thriller that went to overtime, France became the first team to reach the EuroBasket 2022 quarterfinals by edging Turkey 86-87 behind 20 points and 17 rebounds from Rudy Gobert. Evan Fournier and Thomas Heurtel each added 13 points for France. Bugrahan Tuncer of Anadolu Efes Istanbul led Turkey with 22 points. Furkan Korkmaz added 18, Sertac Sanli of FC Barcelona had 12 and Cedi Osman got 11. Turkey led 77-75 late in regulation and Osman drew an unsportsmanlike foul. He missed both free throw attempts and Fournier got a steal which allowed Gobert to send the game to overtime, in which Les Blues prevailed.
Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid got France going with a three-pointer, sparking a 2-9 opening run which he capped with a dunk. Osman and Sehmus Hazer of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul stepped up for Turkey but Olympiacos Piraeus center Moustapha Fall kept Les Bleus ahead, 11-18, after 10 minutes. Vincent Poirier of Real Madrid followed a jump hook with a dunk to make it a 16-point game, 15-31. Osman and Tuncer gave Turkey hope, 35-42, at halftime. A red hot Tuncer struck three times from downtown in a mamooth 19-0 run that put Turkey ahead, 57-49, at the end of the third quarter. France found a go-to guy in Efes swingman Amath M'Baye, who got help from Heurtel to bring Les Bleus in charge, 69-71, with under 2 minutes left. Hazer struck from downtown and Furkan Korkman hit 5-of-5 free throws, then Gobert sent the game to overtime with a put-back slam, 77-77, with 2.7 seconds left in regulation. Gobert put France ahead, 86-87, and Turkey had a final chance to win the game but Korkmaz picked up a critical turnover almost at the buzzer.
Slovenia outlasts Belgium, 88-72
Slovenia had to battle hard to defeat Belgium 88-72. Former EuroLeague MVP and Final Four MVP Luka Doncic led the winners with 35 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Klemen Prepelic of Valencia Basket added 13 points, Mike Tobey of FC Barcelona had 12 while Goran Dragic got 11 for Slovenia. Emmanuel Lecomte had 16 points for Belgium, which got its first lead, 63-64, early in the fourth quarter. Doncic and Prepelic stepped up in crunch time to send Slovenia, the defending champion, to the quarterfinals.
Doncic struck three times from beyond the arc, getting help from Tobey to make it a double-digit game, 16-5. Retin Obasohan of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, Hans Vanwijn and Jonathan Tabu helped Belgium get as close as 20-19 late in the first quarter. Zoran Dragic of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Prepelic and Tobey combined for all points in an 8-0 run that restored a 37-27 Slovenian lead. Belgium found a go-to guy in Pierre-Antoine Gillet, who joined forces with Emmanuel Lecomte and Obasohan to get their team within 44-41 at halftime. Doncic stepped up again late in the third quarter, allowing Slovenia to boost its margin to 57-50. Belgium was not done, however, getting within 63-60 after 30 minutes and taking the lead, 63-64, on a layup by Kevin Tumba. Doncic and Prepelic combined for 13 points in a 19-1 run that sealed the outcome, 82-65, as Belgium did not recover.
Germany holds off Montenegro's comeback, 85-79
Germany made the most out of its home-court advantage at Berlin Arena by edging Montenegro 85-79. Dennis Schroeder led Germany with 22 points and 8 assists. Maodo Lo of ALBA Berlin and Franz Wagner each added 14 points for the winners. Kendrick Perry led Montenegro with 25 points. Bojan Dubljevic of Valencia Basket added 22. Germany led 48-24 at halftime but Montenegro managed to get within striking distance, 80-77, in the final minute. Free throw accuracy allowed Germany to punch its ticket to the next round.
Daniel Theis, Schroeder and FC Bayern Munich guard Andreas Obst fueled an 11-2 opening run. Perry and Marko Simonovic rescued Montenegro, bringing their team within 11-10. Johannes Thiemann of ALBA and Lo each struck from three-point range to restore a 19-10 German lead after 10 minutes. Obst and Lo kept pacing Germany and Wagner buried a three-pointer that broke the game open, 32-14. Germany boosted its margin to 48-24 at halftime but Montenegro bounced back after the break. Perry and Dubljevic allowed their team to get within single digits, 67-58, with over 8 minutes remaining. Perry buried back-to-back triples to bring Montenegro even closer, 69-64. Lo and Theimann rescued Germany and Schroeder buried a jumper for a 80-71 German lead with 2 minutes left. Montenegro rallied within 80-77 with 26 seconds left but Lo and Schroeder sealed the outcome from the foul line.
Spain survives overtime thriller, 102-94
In an instant classic, Spain needed overtime to down Lithuania 102-94. Lorenzo Brown of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv paced the winners with 28 points and 8 assists. Willy Hernangomez added 21 points while his brother Juancho and Rudy Fernandez of Real Madrid each had 13 for Spain. Mindaugas Kuzminskas led Lithuania with 18 points. Ignas Brazdeikis added 17, his Zalgiris Kaunas teammate Lukas Lekavicius and Domantas Sabonis each had 15 while Rokas Jokubaitis of FC Barcelona had 13 for Lithuania. Spain rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit but Brazdeikis forced overtime with a buzzer-beating tip-in. Brown scored 12 of his 28 points in overtime to make the difference.
Brown gave Spain an early 9-6 lead, then Lekavicius came off the bench, following a driving layup with a three-pointer for a 19-20 Lithuanian lead after 10 minutes. Spain quickly regained a 29-22 lead behind the Hernangomez brothers. Lithuania found a new go-to guy in Kuzminskas, who joined forces with Marius Grigonis of Panathinaikos Athens to give their team a 40-45 lead at halftime. Kuzminskas struck from downtown to make it a double-digit game, 47-58, soon after the break. Fernandez and Usman Garuba kept Spain alive, 63-68, at the end of the third quarter. Lithuania led 68-75 with over 4 miniues left in regulation. Brown and Willy Hernandez fueled the Spanish comeback and Xavi Lopez-Arostegui of Valencia Basket completed it, 80-78, in the next-to-last minute. Brazdeikis hit a big triple and beat the buzzer with a tip-in to send the game to overtime, 83-83. An unstoppable Brown singlehandedly gave Spain a 95-88 margin with 2 minutes left, allowing Spain to stay alive in the competition.