RIGA (Latvia) - Türkiye had already qualified for the Round of 16, and have a game against Serbia coming up to determine the group winner in Group A, but they did not relax for one second of their matchup with Estonia on Monday.
They took care of business, unfazed by the travelling Estonian fans in Riga, as they won the game 84-64.
Turning Point
The second half of the first quarter showed how much firepower Türkiye have on their roster. With the starters doing their part and Adem Bona brining plenty of energy of the bench, Ergin Ataman's men opened up a +12 advantage after 10 minutes and did not look back the rest of the way.
Estonia tried making it interesting with three consecutive triples to end the third and start the fourth period, but they could not crawl into single digit deficits the rest of the way.
TCL Player of the Game
Sure, Ercan Osmani and Adem Bona had great stretches; sure, three other players were in double figures, but this is Alperen Sengun's playground.
The big guy was simply amazing one more time, finishing with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, making two of his three three-point attempts to get an efficiency rating of 30 - exactly his average efficiency rating per game through these four games.
His massive dunk put the game out of Estonia's reach midway through the fourth quarter.
Sengun is now the first player to have 20+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists in three consecutive FIBA EuroBasket games over the past 30 years.
Stats Don't Lie
Türkiye had 5 blocks in a single game for the first time since their encounter with Germany exactly 10 years ago, and while that alone wasn't the biggest advantage looking at the boxscore, the fear factor was obvious.
Estonia only shot 11-of-30 from inside the arc, with Bona, Sengun and Omer Yurtseven altering shots simply by being under the rim to make the Estonians think twice about shooting over them.
"It's undeniable that's one of my biggest strengths, to be able to run, jump, protect the rim, play defensively. I was just excited to be able to display that," Bona said about his incredible blocks and leaps under both rims.
Bottom Line
The dream start continues for Türkiye, as they picked up four wins in a single FIBA EuroBasket tournament for the first time since 2009.
Back then, coach Bogdan Tanjevic led them to a 5-0 start to the competition, before losing the remaining four games and finishing eighth in Poland.
With the way they have been playing and dominating in Riga, it feels like they could not only repeat an elite eight finish, but eclipse it and fight for a medal.
As for Estonia, they dropped to 1-3 ahead of their final group phase game in Latvia. They face Portugal on Wednesday, a win there could be enough to send them to the Round of 16.
They Said
"We are like kids in candy store. This is why we struggle early in the game, and we can't arrive with that mentality against Portugal. Let's be honest, this type of level is not an everyday thing for us. We know what our weaknesses are. We need to have the toughness, the mentality to fight more than the other team because we are a little bit smaller. But this underdog mentality, we have to grow bigger than that and start playing more confident from the first minute." - Estonia head coach Heiko Rannula
"We didn't show up in the first half. But still some positive things to take for us, and that's the second half. On Wednesday, we have to be ready, give it our all, and hope the Estonian fans come and give us their support." - Kaspar Treier, Estonia
"Obviously, Jokic is an amazing player. You can't predict what he's gonna do. We just gotta go out there, play our best defense and the rest is gonna handle itself." - Adem Bona, Türkiye, already focused on the matchup with Serbia to determine the group winner
"I believe that both teams have the same potential. For sure, Serbia has a great roster, but also we showed in all these four games that our roster and our basketball is on the top level. It will be a tough game for the first position in the group." - Türkiye head coach Ergin Ataman talking about Wednesday, too
"We will not make anything different for Jokic. We will play our normal defense." - Coach Ataman, again
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA