TBILISI (Georgia) - Turkey had to step it up on the defensive end so they, as one of Group A's favorites, could pull away in the fourth quarter and win 101-87 against Bulgaria.

Bulgaria were ahead 42-35 in the second quarter and closed out the half with a small lead thanks to Aleksandar Vezenkov's and Dee Bost's heroics. Yet ultimately they couldn't keep up with Turkey in the high-scoring affair.

 Turning point: Bulgaria were right there at 79-73 with 7 minutes left in the game. However, Alperen Sengun took matters in his own hands and helped Turkey build a bigger lead to secure the W.

TCL Player of the Game: Cedi Osman was lights out as the forward went for 25 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists on 11-for-15 shooting from the field.

Stats don't lie: Turkey recorded an impressive 30 assists as their high-powered offense was too much to handle for Bulgaria on the defensive end. Those 30 assists are the most for Turkey in a single EuroBasket game.

Bottom line: Turkey haven't had it easy, yet have two wins in two games. Meanwhile, Bulgaria will wish to take the best from this performance as their quest for the first victory will continue against Montenegro, Georgia and Belgium.

They said:

"In the second half we changed our strategy. We started with Cedi Osman at the 4 position to deny Vezenkov and we put Sehmus Hazer on Dee Bost. We started to switch in their pick-and-roll. Then we stopped their main attack. In the second half we  found the same points on offense. But those points mostly were after good defense." - Turkey coach Ergin Ataman

"I think we should improve our defense. In the first half we gave them like 50 points. It's too much. On offense we don't have any problems. Looks like we score almost 100 points in every game."- Bugrahan Tuncer, Turkey

"Vezenkov and Bost are professionals. They can play 40 minutes. These are the new rules. Why to make a substitution just to do it? The best players have to be on the court." - Bulgaria coach Rosen Barchovski

"It was a tough game. We played way better than we played against Spain. The main thing for us is to come out and give ourselves a chance. We did that for 30 minutes, but it has to be for 40 minutes." - Dee Bost, Bulgaria

 
FIBA