Gobert, France win at EuroBasket; Luka leads Slovenia again

BERLIN: Rudy Gobert scored 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, and Olympic silver medalist France moved into the EuroBasket quarterfinals by holding off Turkey 87-86 in overtime on Saturday.

Gobert had a putback dunk with 2.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, then scored the first four points of overtime, and France never trailed in the extra session.

“Crazy game,” Gobert said.

Crazier finish.

Turkey had what seemed like full control of the game with 12.2 seconds left in regulation. They had the ball, up by two, was going to the foul line for two free throws and would keep possession of the ball after those shots because France had been whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul.

But Cedi Osman missed both shots, a scene reminiscent of when he did the same late in what became a one-point loss to the US at the Basketball World Cup in 2019. France wound up forcing a turnover on the ensuing possession, and Gobert’s dunk tied the game.

“Really tough spot for us, but we got lucky, he missed both,” Gobert said. “Then we were able to steal the out of bounds, get a bucket and get to overtime. We never stopped. We never stopped fighting. We always believed. Obviously, not our best game, but the thing I’m really proud of is the fact that we never gave up. A lot of teams would have given up in that position.”

Thomas Heurtel and Evan Fournier had 13 points apiece for France, which led by 16 midway through the second quarter.

But Turkey closed the third quarter on a 19-0 run, turning an 11-point deficit into a 57-49 lead going into the final 10 minutes of regulation. France missed 11 consecutive shots in that stretch.

Turkey had a chance to win on the final possession of overtime, but Furkan Korkmaz lost his dribble with