LODZ, Poland: Forward Ersan Ilyasova scored 15 points and came up with a key block in the closing seconds to guide Turkey to a 63-60 win over world champion Spain on Saturday in the second round of the European basketball championship.
Spain had the ball and a chance to win it with 12 seconds to play. Guard Sergio Llull drove to the basket, but Ilyasova got a hand on the shot and teammate Ender Arslan grabbed the rebound. Center Semih Erden then hit a pair of free throws to seal the Group F win and keep Turkey unbeaten at the tournament.
“It’s a big win for us against a good team,” said Turkey forward Hedo Turkoglu. “We played hard and played together and won, so I’m happy what we did and hopefully we can continue like this.” Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol and Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez led Spain with 16 points.
“It was a very, very close game,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. “Both teams played really hard the whole time. Turkey did better things in the last four or five minutes.” Turkey next plays Serbia on Monday, and Spain faces Lithuania.
In another Group F matchup, Serbia beat host Poland 77-72 behind 18 points and eight rebounds from Oklahoma City Thunder center Nenad Krstic. Serbia took control early in the second half with a 13-0 run, sparked by a Nemanja Bjelica dunk and capped by a Milenko Tepic 3-pointer, to lead 56-40 halfway through the third quarter.
Poland cut the gap to 64-62 in the fourth on a layup by guard Lukasz Koszarek, but would get no closer.
“In order to catch up to a team you have to use twice as much energy and you can’t make any mistakes because they take advantage of them,” Poland center Szymon Szewczyk said.
Marcin Gortat, who plays for the Orlando Magic, and Koszarek each scored 16 points to lead Poland.
Later Saturday, Lithuania takes on Slovenia.
The top four teams in Group E and Group F advance to the quarterfinals.
