Game Summary

Turning Point: With Greece leading 76-74 with nine seconds left, Ender Arslan missed a game-winning three-pointer.

Hero: Vassilis Spanoulis poured in a game-high 23 points, including two big threes in overtime to pace Greece.

Key Stats: Turkey were six of 13 (46%) from the free-throw line while Greece finished 26 of 34 (74%).
Greece out-rebounded Turkey 47-28.

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Greece edged Turkey in a EuroBasket Quarter-Final thriller on Friday night.

Needing a victory to secure a place in next year's FIBA World Championship in Turkey, Jonas Kazlauskas' team required overtime but won 76-74 to set up a Semi-Final showdown with Spain on Saturday.

Ender Arslan's lay-up sent the game to overtime, but he could not make a game-winning three fall.

Endar Arslan's lay-up at the end of regulation forced the extra period for Turkey, but the point guard, after Nikos Zisis made one of two to give Greece a two-point lead, missed from long range at the buzzer in the extra period.

In a year of transition for Greece, it was the experience of Vassilis Spanoulis, the rebounding of Antonis Fotsis and the defense of Georgios Printezis that helped them claim their biggest win of the year.

"We never stopped believing that we could win this game," said Spanoulis, who had a game-high 23 points and buried six of his team's 10 three pointers.

"This is a new team, with a new coach, new players and new ideas but we still made it to the top four at the EuroBasket and that's a big thing for us.

"We tried to play very hard on defense in every play and that's what we did today as well. "

Spanoulis made six of nine shots from behind the arc and Fotsis had a game-high 13 boards to go with his 11 points.

Printezis, meanwhile, showed great versatility by playing lock-down defense against Turkey's guards and forwards.
He also hit a three-pointer with 36 seconds remaining to give Greece a 64-63 lead.

That shot came during an 8-0 run.

After Arslan's lay-up sent the game to overtime, Greece took a 72-67 but were then bit by the turnover bug.

They turned it over four times under intense Turkish defensive pressure and after one of them by Spanoulis, Hedo Turkoglu scored on fast-break to close the gap to 75-74 with 37 seconds remaining.

Omer Onan, whose wife gave birth to twins earlier in the day back in Istanbul, next stole a pass by Fotsis to trigger another fast-break but this time, Turkoglu missed in the lane and Greece rebounded.

Turkey's Ersan Ilyasova chased down Zisis and fouled the guard to put him on the line.

Zisis missed the first but made the second to set up the thrilling finish, and without calling a timeout, Arslan brought the ball up the floor and freed himself to attempt a three-pointer but missed.

"It was a very difficult time for me," said Kazlaukas when asked to comment on the last minutes of the game. "I could not used the last timeout to say not to those mistakes.

"We controlled much of the game and then we lost control in the last couple of minutes.

"Both teams started nervous early in overtime."

Turkey, who didn't lose at the EuroBasket until the final game of the Qualifying Round against Slovenia, will now have to battle France in the Classification Round.

"We didn't play the last minutes of overtime with our heads," said Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic. "So we could not extend the advantage we had.

"We were in the situation to win but could not do it.

"It's the first time we lost so many rebounds under our own basket. "And there were a lot of small things making the difference. "

Turkoglu and Anan led Turkey with 13 points apiece.

Turkey were six of 13 (46%) from the free-throw line while Greece finished 26 of 34 (74%).

Greece out-rebounded Turkey 47-28, 17 coming from the offensive glass.

A minute's silence was observed before the game because of a mining accident in southwest Poland. Twelve people have died and 15 others have serious burns.

Jonas Kazlauskas (Greece Coach):

"I am of course very happy, but it's very difficult to to talk after such a tough game. We lead for a majority of the match, but lost concentration in fourth quarter. But it's good, that even then players continue to play hard and keep fighting. We win in the end, thanks to our defense, the great game of Spanoulis and the fact that our team still was together, like one fist."

Efstratios Perperoglou (Greece):

"It was a very good game by both teams. We made big shots at the end and we won. Now we have two more games and we will try to win both."

Bogdan Tanjevic (Turkey Coach):

"In games like this one shot going in or out mades the difference, today it was us who lost the match. I agree that Omer Asik wasn't dominant like in previous games, and losing the rebounding battle was a big reason for the loss. But our players also didn't help Asik as they should."

Sinan Guler (Turkey):

"I think the stats are telling everything about this game. It was a very intense game for all 45 minutes, but Greece shot many more free throws and they also killed us with rebounds. Congratulations to them for the win. It's shame we lost tonight, but now we will try to get a 5th place in this tournament."

Spain won bragging rights for the south in the first Quarter-Finals. Croatia and Slovenia will face each other in a game that also carries some historical meaning, and could see them facing another rival in Serbia.

Then there's Greece and Turkey.

None of the other two country pairs match the rivalry between the neighbors separated by the Aegean Sea.

It's Questionable if there's a bigger one throughout the entire continent, probably because the nations on both sides are known for their big passion.

When it comes to basketball that passion is visible on the court, benches and among the fans.

These two teams faced each other six times in the past, but never on such a big stage.

For many years both countries didn't have a big basketball tradition.

Since they entered the center court of Europe they have faced each other only two times, but both in the Preliminary Round.

One game, in the final round, with a shot at a medal on the line is all a basketball fan can ask for.

Thus far we have all the ingredients for a fantastic atmosphere for a basketball game, other than basketball itself, but that department can't deliver any disappointment.

There's little need to present the names that will take the floor.

Nikos Zisis of Greece will play his 100^th game with the national team and will hope to have a big celebration, while Turkey will try to avoid one.

They have written their 100^th win In EuroBasket history during this championship, but the last loss to Slovenia was their 99^th.

In order to avoid a less pleasing anniversary here in Poland, they will have to win the gold.

The first step goes through Greece.

The Greeks have a deeper roster and more players with experience.

Turkey carry big momentum from the two first rounds and a bigger superstar in Hedo Turkoglu.

One aspect that can't be left silent will take place on the sidelines.

Bogdan Tanjevic of Turkey and Jonas Kazlauskas of Greece are two of the top coaches in Europe who are famous not only for their attractive basketball, but also for having those extra spices that make the game more interesting for the fans.

For both teams making it to the semis will be a great success while playing the 5-8 classification games would be a disappointment consider the path they have made thus far.

It's a game nobody can afford to lose but only one team can win.

Head-to-head: The total record between the two archrivals is 4-2 in favor of Greece who won the first game and also the last three in a row. This is the first time the two teams meet twice in the same decade, and all their last three wins Greece scored between 72-75 points.

Last time out: Greece were edged by France 71-69 to miss the first spot in Group E and drop down to third place. Turkey as well suffered a two point loss, 69-67, to Slovenia. It was Turkey's first loss in the tournament.

Stats: Turkey and Greece wrote almost identical numbers in lots of stat categories both on offense and defense. Points and field goal percentage on both ends of the floor, rebounds, assists, turnovers and made shots from any range. Both sides reached very close numbers. One aspect does differ between them. Greece draw five fouls more per game and go to the line seven times more. Turkey don't have the longest bench here, and if Greece could get them in foul trouble it will play a key role, but that would have to go hand in hand with good accuracy from the line.

Key Match-Up: Omer Asik and Semih Erden are the two twin towers of Turkey and excel on the defensive end. Sofoklis Schortsanitis and Ioannis Bourousis are the Greek bigs and they are offensive oriented. The Turks are longer. The Greeks are wider. The Turks bring 17.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 1.3 bpg. The Greek duo carries 22.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 0.7 bpg. If the wind blows in the offensive oriented direction of Greece or the defensive mind of Turkey will be decided greatly with these two duos.

X-Factor: In his 100^th game with the national team Nikos Zisis needs to be in good form. In the last two games of Greece, their only two losses of the tournament, he wrote his competition low with three and four points while making only one field goal attempt in ten attempts. He also didn't dish even a single assist. Another bad day by Zisis will make things a lot more difficult for Greece to prevail.

Sounding-Off: "This is a basketball game. Very important one in the Quarter-Finals of EuroBasket but nothing more than that, and we'll try to win it just like we want to win any other game." - Turkey's Hedo Turkoglu.