The Ukrainian men's national basketball team lost in the third round of the pre-Olympic qualification tournament in Turkey and advanced to the semifinals from the second place in Group C. Vitaliy Stepanovskiy's wards in Istanbul lost to the hosts with the score 72:85.

The start of the game was an even contest. Ukraine emphasized three-pointers, which Voynalovych, Krutous and Kovlyar made accurately. When Vyacheslav Kravtsov was on the floor, we looked strong, but as soon as Artem Pustovoy replaced him, we had problems. A classic moment happened when Artem didn't score 2 from an open position, and on defense the Turk threw a truelnik through him.

Ukrainian basketball players continued to successfully attack from long range and only thanks to three-point statistics (6/8) we kept on the same level. Under the basket, especially with Pustovy coming out, we completely lost the initiative.

It was evident that the Ukraine national team was very focused and determined to fight, the head coach of the hosts in the middle of the second half received a technical foul for being too indignant about the referee's decision.

This angered his wards in a peculiar way. The Turks picked up the pace, scored 5 points in a row and forced Vitaly Stepanovsky to take a timeout at 34:33. Right after that, Bobrov simply gave the ball to his opponent under the basket.

The Ukrainian offense became chaotic and lost its integrity, which had an immediate negative impact on the result. Accurate three-pointers turned into "eirbols," and only Kravtsov showed stability under the basket.

Gradually, Turkey started to pull away thanks to powerful power basketball, forcing Stepanovskiy to take a minute break again at 44:38. Before the big break, the home team's handicap grew even more - 49:41.

In the second half, there were no dramatic changes in the game pattern. The Turkish team, led by Houston Rockets center Alperen Schengyun, won the third quarter 21-14.

In the fourth ten minutes Stepanovskiy's charges relaxed, started to play at their own pleasure and managed to narrow the gap, but it did not affect the overall result.

Ukraine will play its playoff match on Friday, August 18. The most likely opponent is Croatia. "Cagey" their match of the 3rd round with the Netherlands will be held later.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, in the 1st round of the national team of Ukraine got a dramatic victory in overtime over Bulgaria, and in the 2nd dealt with Iceland.

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