Hedo Turkoglu poured in a game-high 34 points for Turkey but it wasn't enough to upset Marco Belinelli and Italy on Monday.

Belinelli scored all 17 of his points after half-time as the Italians won 84-75 in overtime.

Turkey had a chance to win at the end of regulation but Ibrahim Kutluay missed a wide-open attempt from the left corner to leave the game tied at 70-70.

		Hidayet Türkoglu had a huge game for Turkey but it wasn't enough.

Engin Atsur hit a three-pointer to put the Turks into a 73-72 lead but Italy responded with a 9-3 run to take control for good.

Belinelli, who is set to begin his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, was amazing.

He scored most of his points on an array of drives to the basket that Turkey could not stop.

"It has been a tough game," said Belinelli.

"We trailed by 15 points in the first quarter but we managed to comeback.

"We had to win this game and we did. We played some really tough defense in the third and fourth quarters. And the team won, not me.

"Now we have to prepare for another challenging game against Dirk Nowitzki's Germany."

Kutluay's thee-ball gave Turkey a 25-10 lead with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter but Italy managed to cut the deficit to trail 43-34 at half-time.

		Italy and Massimo Bulleri needed a shoulder to cry on in the first half.

Neither team could pull away in the second half and the game was eventually decided in the extra period.

Turkoglu was a hero even in defeat with one of the finest performances of the EuroBasket, making five of eight shots from the arc and pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists.

"It doesn't matter because we lost so there's no consolation," said Turkoglu.

"It was a good game and we played well. I'm happy for my team and my team-mates because of that but it wasn't enough."

Turkey were plagued by poor free throw shooting again, making just 16 of 29 (55%) for the game.

With the loss, Turkey were eliminated from the competition with an 0-4 record.

The Italians, meanwhile, face Germany on Wednesday - still with a chance to reach the quarter-finals should they win.

Turkey

Coach Bogdan Tanjevic: "Probably our best game in this tournament, and it was our last chance. Twice we missed very important rebounds and some other small things that cost us the game. Congratulations to our opponents. They recovered after the loss to Lithuania."

Forward Hidayet Turkoglu: "Tough game for us. We had the lead from the start. They are a good team and you have to give them the credit. It was a good game for both teams. I'm upset we couldn’t win, but it's not the end of the world. We'll do our best like today in the next game. We have one more chance and let's see what happens."

Italy

Coach Carlo Recalcati: "Before the game we knew we needed to win two games in a row to continue in the championship."

"In the beginning we suffered a lot from the offensive play of Turkey and also in the rebounds, where they took 13 more than us. In the second half we played better. Our defense allowed only 14 points in the second quarter, so we figured we need to force the opponent not to score as much as first quarter, and also to pull more rebounds."

"In offense we looked for the right situations, and when Mehmet Okur had four fouls we tried to attack him all the time. Marco Belinelli did a very good job in that, and that was one of the keys of our match. Belinelli played so-so on offense in the first half, and kind of lost focus.  In the second half he played stronger at both ends, and this is normal for a shooter like him. He was one of our keys in the finals, because he decided to attack one-on-one on Okur."

"Andrea Bargnani didn't play a good game, but knew to score in the last minutes a three pointer and two shots from the line, and that's important. The whole game the team was waiting for him. If he doesn't play the right way, the team is hurt. "

Forward Angelo Gigli: "In the start we had some problems. We started bad, didn't play good defense and didn't take good shots, so all the time we had to chase after them. In the second half we played better in every aspect and that was enough to win the game."

Italy and Turkey go into their EuroBasket clash today knowing a win is the only result that will stave off elimination for both sides.

The Italians have been reeling ever since they lost to Slovenia on a last-second three-pointer from Slovenia.

They also slipped up against France and then bounced back to beat Poland but crashed to defeat in a thriller against Rimantas Kaukenas and Lithuania in their qualifying round game on Saturday.

		Turkey need a big performance from Okur, who has been struggling

Turkey have been hammered in their three defeats, though, most notably against the Slovenians two days ago.

Last game: Italy lost 79-74 to Lithuania and Turkey fell against Slovenia 66-51.

Statistics: Italy were out-rebounded 44-29 against Lithuania while free-throws continues to be a problem for Turkey. They are shooting just 57.7% (60-of-104) at the foul line over their four games.

Key match-up: Mehmet Okur v Angelo Gigli. Okur has much to prove after struggling to make a big impact on the tournament, while Gigli has arguably been Italy's best big man in this EuroBasket.

X-Factor: Marco Belinelli has been coming off the bench and, in the fourth quarter against Lithuania, almost single-handedly kept the Azzuri in the game with his ability to knife into lane and score. If he plays like that for the entire game, it would be a huge plus for his team.

Speaking out: "We are disappointed regarding our defeat to Lithuania because we could have won. In any case, we are improving and we must win our next two games in order to progress to the next round. Turkey is a very strong squad that has a very good coach and two NBA players (Okur and Hedo Turkoglu). Turkoglu can shoot from long range and can penetrate while the second is dangerous underneath the basket." – Belinelli.