FIBA – Turkey stay perfect, Germany outlast Serbia in double overtime thriller

ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) – Turkey stayed undefeated on Day 2 of the 2010 FIBA World Championship by beating Russia 65-56.

In front of a 10,000 strong crowd packed in Ankara Arena – including Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Bogdan Tanjevic’s side suffocated Russia defensively and got a huge boost from Hedo Turkoglu, who broke out of a shooting slump to hit key baskets down the stretch to stay atop Group C.

In Kayseri, Germany caused quite a surprise as they outlasted Serbia 82-81 in a thrilling encounter that went into double overtime. Serb Aleksandar Radic hit two three-pointers in the closing seconds of regulation to force the first extra session and Kosta Perovic’s free-throw with just over a minute left in the first additional period was enough to force the second one. Germany’s Jan Jagla made an unbelievable off balance three-pointer and Dirk Bauermann's men held on to win by the slimmest of margins.

Lithuania rallied back from a 17-point deficit to beat Canada 70-68 in Izmir and improve to 2-0 thanks to the fine play of Linas Kleiza (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Tomas Delininkaitis (11 points).

Later on, reigning world champions Spain bounced back from their shock defeat against France to dispatch New Zealand 101-84 as Marc Gasol and Jorge Garbajosa combined for 36 points.

The USA also kept their perfect record by seeing off Slovenia 99-77 in Group B in Istanbul thanks to some stifling defense that led to many fastbreak points.

Here is a look at the day’s other games.

Group A (Kayseri): Angola claimed their first win of the tournament by beating Jordan 79-65 behind Rasheim Wright’s 18 points. Luis Scola erupted for 31 points to help Argentina come from behind and edge out Australia 74-72 to maintain their 100 percent mark.

Group B (Istanbul): Croatia overcame Hamed Haddadi’s 27 points and nine rebounds to beat Iran 75-54. Leandro Barbosa scored 16 first quarter points to help Brazil jump out to a 26-16 lead against Tunisia on their way to an 80-65 win.

Group C (Ankara): Ji Yianlian had 26 points to lead China past Ivory Coast 83-73 for their first win. In an exciting contest, Greece held off stubborn Puerto Rico 83-80 to improve to 2-0.

Group D (Izmir): France rode the momentum of their win over Spain on Saturday to crush Lebanon 86-59 thanks to some balanced scoring.