RIGA/KIEV (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - Ukraine and Turkey were on pace to secure early qualification to the Second Round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers, but a resilient Latvian side had other ideas.

Trailing by as many as 11 points against Turkey, the Baltic side raced back from behind to snatch a 79-70 win at the Arena Riga to leave the door to the next round wide open for all four teams in Group B.

While it wasn't enough to make up the point differential from the 12-point defeat in Bursa back in November, the win put Latvia on level terms with Turkey at 2-2 before the last pair of games in June and July.

"It was a very important win for us. I want to thank my players for the energy and the hustle they provided today. We had a game plan for today and we executed it very well," Latvia head coach Aigars Vecvagars offered after the game.

After playing some great basketball in November, the Ufuk Sarica-coached 12 Giant Men from Turkey came out flat during the current window with defeats against Sweden and now Latvia.

"With this defeat we lost the advantage we had from the first two games. We're going to try to make up for these two losses in the upcoming window in June. We'll do our best to make it out of the group," Turkey forward Metin Turen conceded after the game.

A different result in Riga would have put the Turkish side through to the next phase of the competition alongside Ukraine, who moved atop the standings with a 77-66 victory against the Swedes in the other game of the day.

Ukraine and Turkey could only have achieved early qualification to the Second Round as a twosome, had both teams moved to 3-1 in the standings with wins on Monday evening.

Only the Ukrainians delivered on their end of the bargain, leading by as many as 24 points early in the third quarter before taking the foot off the gas pedal in the second half of the game.

"I think the second quarter was the crucial one. Our team played very good defense and we conceded just 7 points in the period," Ukraine playcaller Ievgen Murzin said afterwards. "We showed our strength. We had an advantage inside with Slava Kravtosv, Pustovyy and Vyacheslav Bobrov and tried to maximize it."

Despite being at the bottom of the standings with a 1-3 record, a 59-58 win over Turkey on Friday ensured Sweden will be coming out of the February window with a positive mindset.

"There are two games remaining and we are looking forward to the next one. We can learn a lot from the game. We are a young team and playing against a strong team like Ukraine will help us in the future," the team's head coach Vedran Bosnic said.

With all four teams still in the race for the Second Round and all three qualification spots still open, the final set of games in June and July promises to bring all-out excitement for basketball fans in Ukraine, Turkey, Latvia and Sweden.

FIBA