DONGGUAN, China, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Isaac Fotu's last gasp shot in final 30 seconds help New Zealand edge Turkey 102-101 in Group O of the classification round, taking its third victory in FIBA World Cup 2019 here on Monday.
Turkey led the game with 101-100 before Fotu's last shot, and Turkey's leading scorer Cedi Osman missed his three-pointer in last ten seconds.
Osman pocketed game-high 32 points and Melih Mahmutoglu had 27 points for Turkey. Six players harvested scores in double digits for New Zealand, both Fotu and Rob Loe finishing with 17 points, and Corey Webster adding 12 points and 5 assists.
With a game in the balance and the gap in scores between Turkey and New Zealand in every quarter were not more than 5 points with Turkey leading for most of the game, Turkey could not hold out, losing on the last shot.
Turkey beat Japan and Montenegro but lost to the Czech Republic, the United States and New Zealand on their World Cup travels, while New Zealand defeated Turkey, Montenegro, and Japan but lost to Greece and Brazil.
