Turkey defeated New Zealand 76-73 in yet another thrilling nail-biter in the group stages of the 2014 FIBA World Cup at Bizkaia Arena in Bilboa, Spain.
Turkey's Emir Preldzic made a three-pointer with 3:13 left in the fourth quarter to give Turkey a 75-72 lead. Solid defense in the remaining three minutes from the Turkish side sealed the win.
New Zealand attempted seven shots in the final three minutes, and failed to take advantage as they missed every single attempt, five of them coming from Corey Webster.
Oguz Savas scored 16 points in just 12 minutes for Turkey, and Emir Preldzic added 14 points in 34 minutes. New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik played in just 10 minutes and missed his only shot attempt.
Corey Webster led the way for New Zealand with 22 points on 10-22 shooting. As previously noted, five of those misses came in the final three minutes where New Zealand had a chance to tie it up and take the lead many times. Outside of Webster, there was not much production from others for New Zealand. Rob Loe was the team's second leading scorer with 11 points and Kirk Penny was third with 9.
Turkey will take on tournament favorite United States tomorrow at 3:30 pm Eastern Time.
New Zealand will look to bounce back versus Dominican Republic tomorrow at 6:30 am Eastern Time.