Ersan Ilyasova scored 19 points to lead five players in double digits as hosts Turkey reached the semi-finals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship with a dominating 95-68 victory over Slovenia.
Under the smiling watchful eye of Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Turkey remained undefeated at the tournament, leading by as many as 28 points before finalizing a date with Serbia in Saturday’s semis.
The Turks shot 10 of 17 from long range for the game with Sinan Guler scoring 12 points and Hedo Turkoglu, Omer Onan, and Kerem Tunceri all hitting for 10 points .
Turkoglu raised his arms to the heavens at the end of the third quarter with Turkey leading 71-43.
Turkey used the crowd to gain the upper hand in the first quarter, using a 10-0 spurt for a 27-14 lead after one quarter. Bogdan Tanjevic’s men nailed 4 of 5 three pointers.
The Turks continued to use the long ball in the second quarter, hitting four more in pushing the gap to 21 points before leading 50-31 at the break.
The crowd of more than 15,000 at Istanbul’s Sinan Erdem Dom arena would not let their heroes allow Slovenia back into the game in the third quarter as Mehmed Becirovic’s team would not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
Bostjan Nachbar and Sani Becirovic paced the Slovenians with 16 points while Primoz Brezec and Uros Slokar added 10 points each with the Slovenian President Danilo Türk on hand.
Slovenia will play Spain in the 5-8 qualification games.