Türkiye had to work for it, but they are still unbeaten. An 82-75 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday made it five straight in Group C of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European qualifiers.
For a while it looked harder than the scoreline suggests. Bosnia edged the first quarter 18-17 and led 39-34 at the break, controlling the game from the three-point line. Türkiye lost some rhythm when Alperen Şengün picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter and went to the bench.
The turn came in the third. Türkiye tightened the defense, marked Bosnia closely, and got Şengün back on the floor alongside Adem Bona and Furkan Korkmaz. Korkmaz's shooting from range and Bona's work at the rim flipped the game, and Türkiye went into the last quarter ahead 59-57.
It stayed close to the end. Bosnia's Luka Garza and Amar Gegic kept them in it, scoring 27 and 19 points, but a Kenan Sipahi three stretched the lead in the final two minutes, and four free throws and a closing dunk from Bona sealed the win.
Türkiye play Switzerland on Monday in their last group game before moving on to the second-round qualifiers.
Türkiye's under-17s are winning too, beating France to reach the final of their own basketball World Cup, part of a good run across the country's national teams.