 |
| FIBA |
By Ivan Saldajeno
PASAY--Turkey moved on to the semifinals of the FIBA OQT after a hard-fought 68-62 win against Senegal in their win-or-go-home clash at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday night.
Naturalized guard Bobby Dixon recovered from an ugly outing against Canada on Tuesday night by going for 23 points, 15 coming at the death, to help the Turkish side eliminate the gritty Senegalese crew to take the last seat to the knockout stages beginning on Saturday night.
Turkey appeared to be pulling away in the second quarter, outscoring Senegal, 23-12, to open a 33-23 halftime lead.
But Senegal recovered in the early goings of the second half, cutting the lead to as low as one, 46-45, with 8:44 remaining in the game.
The remained tight until two charities from Dixon went on an 8-2 run by his lonesome to bring the gap back to nine, 61-52, with 1:57 to go.
Senegal had one final push, going for their own 8-2 rally to cut the lead back to three, 63-60, with 1:03 left.
But Dixon dropped a dagger triple with 45 seconds left even as two missed free throws from Maurice Ndour secured the victory for Turkey.
Dixon also tallied seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal for the Turkish men, who will battle the winner of the New Zealand-France match later Thursday in another do-or-die affair on Saturday night.
Maleye Ndoye led Senegal, which joined Gilas Pilipinas as the eliminated teams after the preliminaries, with 15 markers, nine rebounds, and one swipe.
Ndour, who had six blocks against Canada on Wednesday night, failed to get one swat against Turkey, although he had another double-double with 14 points and 11 caroms.
Box Scores:
Turkey 68-Dixon 23, Erden 14, Mahmutoglu 8, Guler 8, Asik 7, Korkmaz 5, Batuk 3, Sipahi 0, Savas 0, Geyik 0
Senegal 62-M. Ndoye 15, Ndour 14, Mendy 11, Niang 8, Hannah 6, H. Ndiaye 2, Mbodj 2, E. Ndiaye 2, Gueye 2, Thomas 0, Adams 0, A. Ndoye 0
Quarterscores: 10-11, 33-23, 46-43, 68-62
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
.jpg)
