RIGA (Latvia) - Back in 2017, there were more than 10,000 fans in the stands of the Fenerbahce Arena in Istanbul, but they went silent as Latvia pushed through to defeat the hosts Türkiye.
Fast forward to 2025, and the roles reversed. It was the Turkish enjoying the silence this time, as a sold out Arena Riga witnessed Cedi Osman, Alperen Sengun and others storm to a comfy 93-73 win over Latvia to kick start their Group A campaign.
Turning Point
Tip-off. We probably had the fastest dunk in EuroBasket history, as Ercan Osmani converted the tip into a dunk immediately.
While a game-starting dunk is in no way a legit turning point, it was a sign that Türkiye were locked in from the start, while Latvia were not.
The hosts did hang around, but when Cedi Osman and Shane Larkin started making their shots from deep in the third quarter, the lead ballooned all the way to +22 with seven minutes to play.
TCL Player of the Game
Pick your poison. Cedi Osman was a key factor in the third quarter, and had a team-high 20 points, Kenan Sipahi set his EuroBasket career-highs with 19 points and five threes made, and Türkiye were a +37 team in his 28 minutes of work, while Shane Larkin had 15 on the day.
However, it felt like Alperen Sengun was that key factor, providing the anchor on offense to keep the Turkish ship in safe waters on the Baltic sea.
Sengun finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists on the day, getting an high efficiency rating of 23.
Stats Don't Lie
When Türkiye are making shots, they aren't thinking about winning a game, they are here to go all the way.
Against Latvia, they made 15-of-25 three-pointers, not a lot any team can do when they are that hot. They have broken their previous mark at EuroBasket, having previously made 14 against France in 2022.
Bottom Line
Türkiye's message was loud and clear, and they get to enjoy a day off thinking about the early matchup with Czechia on Friday.
Latvia have plenty to improve to impress their loyal fans, and they probably can't wait for the game with Estonia to tip-off, also on Friday. Rihards Lomazs led the scoring with 16 points off the bench, while Kristaps Porzingis was held to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting with Ercan Osmani as his primary defender.
Of course, it was a collective team effort on defense for coach Ergin Ataman, but Osmani deserves praise for his performance, for sure.
They Said
"Of course it's good. We are sharing the ball, everybody is touching the ball, the ball is going from corner to corner, we have to play like that." - Ercan Osmani, Türkiye, on their balanced offense
"I expected this kind of win because I know the power of my team. Only, of course, to play on the road against the home team in the first game, there were some questions for me, but I know the potential of my team. I expected the win." - Ataman, again
"He's good, he's talented. How he spins around off the body, he's really good at this. He's one of the best. He's like a baby Jokic. His passing ability, how he makes his teammates better, all credit to him." - Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia, talking about Alperen Sengun
"It was a conscious effort to make him work on the defensive side. Obviously he's one of the best players in the world, so we had to make him work on both sides of the ball, getting the ball to Alperen in the post and making him work defensively, then also making him guard the pick-and-rolls, moving him around the court so that when he takes those long threes he doesn't have as many legs and he can't protect the rim as well." - Shane Larkin, Türkiye, talking about the game plan against Porzingis
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA