Ercan Osmani shot the lights out for Turkey as they hammered Greece 94-68 on Friday night to set up a Eurobasket final showdown with Germany.
Osmani got Turkey off to an electrifying start, hitting all four of his three-point attempts and registering 14 points in the first quarter, with the Turks hitting the first shot of the game and never relinquishing the lead.
The 27-year-old power forward made 11 of his 15 shots to finish the game with 28 points and six rebounds, and he did plenty of work on the defensive end too, contributing to a team effort that stifled the usually dominant Giannis Antetokounmpo, limiting him to 12 points.
Turkey’s best Eurobasket result came with a silver-medal performance when they hosted the tournament in 2001.
Germany outclass Finland to roar into final
Point guard Dennis Schroeder scored 26 points and dished out 12 assists as Germany blazed past Finland 98-86 to book their place in Sunday’s Eurobasket final, bringing the remarkable run of the Finns to a shuddering halt.
One of four co-hosts along with Cyprus, Poland and Latvia, Finland were appearing in the semi-finals for the first time, and though they started well, they were soon shut down by the reigning FIBA World Cup champions.
Franz Wagner came out strong with 20 first-half points as Schroeder carved open the Finnish defence, grabbing eight assists to give the Germans a 61-47 lead at the break.
The Finns came storming back, cutting the deficit to six late in the third quarter but again the Germans turned up their defence, shutting down Finnish star man Lauri Markkanen and limiting him to 16 points as he scored a paltry two of his nine three-pointers.
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