09.09.2011

Germany Edge Turkey To Stay Alive

Turning Point: Germany led 69-66 with 21 seconds to go when Turkey's Emir Preldzic split two free throws. Germany's Dirk Nowitzki scored the next four points from the free-throw line.

Game Hero: Germany's Philipp Schwethelm had 11 of his 14 points in the final quarter.

Stats Don't Lie: Germany were 12 of 13 (92%) from the charity stripe while Turkey finished 10 of 22 (45%).

Germany lived to fight another day by upsetting Turkey at the EuroBasket on Friday night in Vilnius.

And they received a timely lift from Philipp Schwethelm in the 73-67 Group E victory.

Schwethelm caught fire in the fourth quarter, burying three shots from the arc as Germany prevailed to improve to 1-3.

Chris Kaman had 20 points and seven rebounds while Dirk Nowitzki, who played with foul trouble the entire game, ended up with 19.

Germany's win means they will go into Sunday, when they take on hosts Lithuania, with a chance to advance to the last eight.

"We played our worst first half of the summer but we only trailed by a few points at the break," Schwethelm said.

"In the second half we made big shots and we won."

Everything seemed to be going according to plan in the first half for Turkey.

Orhun Ene's team led by as many as 12 points but Germany, relying on the offensive firepower of Kaman, finished the second quarter strong.

Kaman had nine points in the first half and the Germans drew to within 24-23 on a Heiko Schaffartzik three-ball in the final minute.

A pair of Hedo Turkoglu free-throws gave Turkey a 26-23 lead at the break.

By the end of the third quarter, however, Germany had moved in front and again it was a jumper by Schaffartzik that gave them a 48-46 lead.

After Nowitzki banked in a jump shot for the third time in the game for a 52-49 lead with 6:48 remaining, Schwethelm heated up.

His first three-ball extended the lead to 55-49 and following a shot from the left corner by Ersan Ilyasova, Schwethelm hit his second trey to restore the six-point lead.

Kaman then powered his way up for a basket and fouled on the play, he sank the free-throw to make it 61-52.

Omer Asik, Turkey's starting center, kept his team alive with dunks and offensive rebounds.

His slam on a fast-break cut the deficit to 61-55 with 3:18 to play and after another Schwethelm jumper, Asik slammed one home to make it 63-57.

Asik's offensive rebound and put-back with a dunk cut the gap to 63-60 with 1:42 to play and the big man then showed off his jump-shooting skills by nailing one in the lane to make it 64-62.

Schwethelm responded with his third three-pointer to take the lead back to 67-62 but after a timeout, Ender Arslan raced into the lane, dribbled past Nowitzki and laid the ball up and in.

Schwethelm's luck then run out as Emir Preldzic blocked his attempted three on the left wing.

The Germany sharpshooter complicated matters by fouling Preldzic, and he sank two free-throws to cut the Germany lead to 67-66 with 27 seconds to play.

Turkey had to foul and put Steffen Hamann on the line and the veteran playmaker sank two attempts to give Germany a three-point advantage.

Not wanting Turkey to attempt a three, Germany fouled Preldzic with 21 seconds to go and he made just one of two attempts to leave Germany on top, 69-67.

Germany rebounded and Turkey fouled Nowitzki, who converted both opportunities.

No one hit as many big shots at Schwethelm.

Schwethelm, who finished with 14 points, was all smiles after the game.

"I was angry and upset before the game that I had to start to get my rhythm," he said.

"For me as a shooter it was important to get open shots.

"I knocked down the shots.

"It feels good to catch a rhythm and hit big shots in the big game."

Turkey suffered an upset at the hands of Poland in Group A and almost missed out on a place in the Second Round.

They advanced when Great Britain beat the Poles on the last day.

Now they will have to beat Serbia on Sunday and hope that Germany lose.

Otherwise, Turkey will not move on to the Quarter-Finals and that will be seen as a huge failure back home, especially after the national team's runners-up finish in the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

 

09.09.2011

Quotes Germany vs. Turkey

Germany Center Chris Kaman:
"We were a litle bit ugly at the start of the game. I was off and so was Dirk (Nowitzki) but we all just kept on fighting. We came out strong in the second half, got ourselves a little bit of a lead and in the end we got it done. Next we have Lithuania who are one of the best teams in the tournament and of course with the home fans. It will be loud and exciting but we just have to come out and play the best basketball that we can. We have a good team. We showed tonight that other guys can make plays and shots."

Germany Head Coach Dirk Bauermann:
"We played badly in the first quarter, we had no rhythm. But we only trailed by three points at the break. I told my players to be patient and be confident and they were."

Turkey Guard Ender Arslan:
"We started the game well but we couldn't take advantage and we soon struggled on our offense. In the second half we fought but we couldn't stop Germany. We still have a chance to go through to the Quarter-Finals and we will fight until the end."

Turkey Head Coach Orhun Ene:
"We started the game well and had we been smart enough, we could have taken a bigger lead at half-time. We played good defense in the first half but we could not score. We had a low three-point percentage and we allowed Germany to remain in the game. It was a bad game for us."