In Riga, Luca Banchi's team 73:93 (21:24, 18:23, 16:25, 18:21) was no match for the Turkish national team.

Turkey had already built a double-digit lead in the first half, but Latvia remained competitive in the first half of the match. However, after the break, everything changed and Erginas Atamans' team began to dominate, leading by more than 20 points at one point.

Latvia will play against Estonia in the next match, while the Turks will test the Czechs.

Latvian national team: R. Lomažas 16, A. Žagaras 11, K. Porzingis and R. Šmitas 10 each, A. Gražulis 7.

Turkey team: C. Osman 20, K. Sipahi 19, A. Shengun 16, Sh. Larkin 15.

Match statistics

Match progress

Turkey dominated the first half and even had a double-digit lead – 20:8. However, the tournament hosts recovered and finished the quarter strongly, after which Turkey has a fragile advantage – 24:21.

The Latvians continued to struggle to defend. In the second quarter, there was a real rain of three-pointers, with both teams hitting 7 of them, but the advantage was on the side of the Turkish team – 47:39.

The turning point in the match came in the third quarter. Turkey began to dominate and built a crushing lead – 72:55.

In addition to these teams, Group A also includes championship favorites Serbia, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Estonia.

In the preparatory cycle, Latvia achieved two victories and suffered three defeats. Luca Banchi's players defeated Slovenia 100:88 and managed to cope with Italy 83:68. True, the Latvians lost the first control match to the same Italy (75:91). Our neighbors also fell to the Lithuanians 105:109 and were no match for the Greeks 86:104.

At that time, Turkey began their preparations with two defeats – against Lithuania (70:91) and Germany (71:73). Later, Erginas Atamans' team did not stumble again and won three victories in a row – against the Czech Republic (79:64), Lithuania (84:81) and Montenegro (96:85).