TUR - Turkish delight as French lose third on the bounce

BERLIN (Supercup) - Serkan Erdogan poured in 22 points to lead Turkey past France 89-76 in the third-place game of the Supercup in Berlin.

Les Bleus, who are supposed to be among the gold medal contenders at the FIBA World Championship which tips off in just two weeks, have now lost three games in a row.

France coach Claude Bergeaud believes tiredness was a factor with his players having had hard workouts in a month-long training camp as part of their preparation for Japan.

"Mentally and physically, it is difficult after four weeks but tonight we were very motivated to play a good game," Bergeaud said.

"It was the same during our last three losses: a good first half but still we lost.

"It was a tough situation because we are going down from the beginning of the preparation.

We are going down and we don’t know why."

France led by 37-27 with just three minutes left in the first half but Turkey shaved five points off the deficit and trailed 43-38 at the break.

Bergeaud’s men still led 60-58 after the third quarter when a spectacular four-point play sparked the Turks into life.

Erdogan, whose knee problems made him a doubt for Turkey this summer, buried a three-pointer from the top of the key and was hit on the arm.

He converted the free throw to give his troops the lead for good at 64-62.

"Today it was my duty to pull the team but tomorrow it will be someone else," Erdogan told PA Sport.

"I am very happy we won. Today we played good offence but not good defence but still we beat a good team and now we are hopeful."

Erdogan isn’t the only Turkish player who can hit from long range.

Leading 72-70, Ibrahim Kutluay and Ender Arslan hit back-to-back three-pointers.

A three-point play from Ermal Kurtoglu then made it 84-74 to assure Turkey a third-place finish.

Tony Parker was yet again France’s leading scorer with 16 points, while fellow starters Joseph Gomis and Cyril Julian added 10 apiece.

Boris Diaw, the French captain, had five points and eight rebounds.

Bergeaud will announce his 12-man roster on Sunday morning.

"We will decide it tomorrow morning, the 12 players we choose for Japan," he said.

"But we will go to China with 13 players. We will decide it between three guys on the pivot - between Cyril Julian, Ronny Turiaf and Johnny Petro."

From Johannes Berendt, PA Sport, Berlin
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