Germany fall to Turkey

Germany fell to defeat against Turkey in its third match of the European Championships in Berlin on Tuesday. Turkey led from the first point until the end in front of a sold-out German crowd.

The hosts could not have got off to a worse start. Turkey - who had the same one win, one loss record as Germany going into the match - took a blistering 9-0 lead, which they extended to 31-11 at the end of the first quarter and Germany never recovered.

The lead was slightly cut to 41-24 at half time, but the efforts of Dirk Nowitzki (13 points, five rebounds) and Dennis Schröder (13 points, five assists) were in vain as the hosts could not catch their Turkish opponents in the second half.

The third quarter concluded with Turkey ahead 60-43, but a late German comeback flustered Turkey at the start of the final quarter. The lead was cut to just nine points with less than 30 seconds left, but solid Turkish free-throw shooting meant Germany could not complete the turnaround. Turkey, in the end, won 80-75.

Germany now sits second last in Group B, with one win from their three matches so far. They must beat Italy on Wednesday evening to stand any chance of making the knockout rounds.