With a dominant 94-68 win over Greece on Friday, Turkey punched its ticket to the EuroBasket final.
Houston Rockets big man Alperen Şengün led Turkey with 15 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals in 32 minutes in the blowout. Ercan Osmani put up 28 points and six rebounds to support Şengün, who has been one of the breakout stars of the tournament.
In eight games, Şengün has averaged 20.8 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists per game.
TURKIYE WILL PLAY IN THE #EUROBASKET FINAL 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/BXlA2CRouA
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 12, 2025
Turkey has never won a EuroBasket final, but came close in 2001 when it hosted the tournament and lost to Yugoslavia. Turkey is undefeated through eight EuroBasket games.
In the quarterfinals against Poland, Şengün became the youngest player to post a triple-double in EuroBasket competition, besting Luka Dončić by nearly three years. (EuroBasket records have only been officially ratified since 1995, though.)
Milwaukee Bucks star and Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was one of the tournament’s most dominant players, but Turkey kept him in check with significant defensive attention, limiting him to only 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and five assists on Friday. Turkey forced 20 turnovers in their decisive victory to advance to the final against Germany on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Germany, the reigning FIBA World Cup champions and one of the favorites in the lead-up to the tournament, punched its ticket to the final earlier on Friday with a 98-86 win over Finland. Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who had been one of the tournament’s leading scorers, put up 16 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for Finland to beat Germany.
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner and Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schröder have continued their dominant play for Germany. Schröder had his first double-double of the tournament with 26 points and 12 assists, which tied a tournament high, while Wagner scored 22 points, his sixth 20-point performance of the tournament, and grabbed five rebounds.
Germany’s lone EuroBasket championship came in 1993, but its most recent appearance in the final came in 2005, led by EuroBasket and NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki.
(Top photo: Christina Pahnke / sampics/Corbis via Getty Images)
