With an incredible 34-2 run spanning two quarters, Croatia defeated Turkey 80-67 and claimed second place in the Group B Preliminary Round.

Trailing 39-28 in the second quarter, Croatia went on a 10-2 run to close the half. The trend continued in the second half as Croatia opened the third quarter by scoring an astonishing 24 unanswered points. Turkey committed five turnovers and didn't score in the quarter until 1:38 remained.

		Nikola Vujcic led Croatia with 20 points

The exclamation point of the run came on a steal by Croatia´s Zoran Planinic resulting in a break away dunk by Gordan Giricek.  Nikola Vujcic, who scored 10 points in the third quarter and 20 for the game, followed Giricek's dunk with a three-pointer to give his a team a 21-point lead.

“It was my and our best game of the tournament,” Vujcic said. “This was a very important game for us and I am glad we came out and played so well.”

The 34-2 run was astonishing, even to Croatia's players.

“I can never remember going on such a run,” Vujcic said.

“It was hard to watch,” said Hidayet Turkoglu, who watched from the bench during a good part of the third quarter.

Turkey cut Croatia´s lead in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get closer than 10 points.

Giricek finished with 16 points while Planinic added 14.

“We knew we had to run because Turkey is an older team,” said Planinic. “In the second half, I think you saw the real Croatian team.

Turkey had to play without sharpshooter Ibrahim Kutluay, who broke his finger in the first quarter of yesterday's win over Bulgaria. He returned to Turkey earlier today and will not be available for the remainder of EuroBasket.

Turkish center Kaya Peker established an early low-post presence by scoring nine first-quarter points to help the Turks jump out to a 23-17 first quarter lead. Peker led Turkey in scoring with 23 points.

Mehmet Okur struggled once again, finishing in single-digits for the second game in Preliminary Round play.

Croatia will play Italy in an elimination game in Podgorica for the right to go to the quarter-finals. Turkey's path to the quarter-finals will be more difficult as they must must travel to Vrsac where they will play Germany.

The two teams, after having got into a fight in their last encounter, amicably congratulated each other and shook hands before heading into their respective locker rooms at the end of the game.