Greece outsmart Turkey to grab Schweitzer basketball glory

Nikoloas Papas led Greece to a 96-82 victory over Turkey in the final of the 24th Albert Schweitzer basketball tournament.

Greece had qualified for the final, which was a sell-out, with a tough 84-79 semi-final victory over Australia and Turkey beat the USA 83-79 in the other semi.

The lead changed 14 times in the first quarter, which ended with the teams level at 24-24. In the second quarter, Greece moved up to another level, displaying some incredible basketball. Kostas Papanikolaou cracked the Turkish defence with his three-pointers, and Nikos Pappas proved to be a brilliant playmaker and marksman, allowing Greece to take a 54-38 half-time lead.

Coach Taner Günay obviously inspired his Turkish team with his pep talk and a 9-0 run at the start of the third quarter pulled them back to 54-47. The game became even closer when Mahmutoglu brought his teams to 60-58 in the 28th minute. But they couldn't keep up the pace and, like the end of the second quarter, the Greeks steadied the ship, with Pappas hitting a three-pointer at the siren.