Greece secured a narrow 72-71 victory against Turkey on Friday in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying game.

Turkey led the first quarter with 20-13, but the home side bounced back to make the score 40-32 at the end of the first half.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Greece took a four-point advantage with a score of 60-56 at the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall in Athens.

Fans witnessed a thrilling finish as Greece took a lead with two free throws made by Kostas Papanikolaou with three seconds remaining.

Turkey had a final chance to beat Greece when, down 72-71, Shane Larkin missed three-pointers and Greece earned its second victory in Group B.

Georgios Papagiannis and Dimitrios Agravanis each scored 14 points to lead Greece.

Turkey's Melih Mahmutoğlu was the highest scorer with 21 points, Samet Geyik and Larkin each finished with 10 points.

This was Turkey's second loss in three games.

In its next match, Turkey will host Greece on Feb. 28, 2022, in Istanbul.