Boris Diaw broke out of a recent slump to record a tournament high 18 points as France (3-2) beat Turkey (0-5) 85-64 in their final game of the qualifying round.

The result didn’t affect the fate of Claude Bergeaud’s men who had already secured their place in the last eight and knew before the game that they would face Russia in the quarter-finals tomorrow night.

		Despite having NBA stars like Hidayet Türkoglu in the line-up, Turkey struggled at EuroBasket.

And while a victory was not crucial for France, the players felt it was a much-needed boost ahead of tomorrow’s clash.

“This win gives us a bit of confidence going into the game tomorrow,” said swingman Tariq Kirksay, who finished with 15 points – hitting all of his shots from the field and the free-throw line – along with four rebounds and three steals.

“We had to work on some things and I think we did well. I don't know if you want to say it was a practice game, but we wanted to work on some stuff. And we wanted to win and we got some players some confidence. And now we have to be ready for tomorrow.”

Turkey, meanwhile, now head home and have time to contemplate where they go from here after finishing dead last in Group F, failing to win a single game in the second phase of the tournament.

“We just have to wait and see what happens for us and Turkish basketball,” admitted guard Engin Atsur afterwards.

“I hope this doesn't do immense damage to Turkish basketball. Obviously we're disappointed, but we're going to try to bounce back as a country in basketball. It hurts because we had a great summer last year. If you look at it, we have great talent, but we just couldn't make it as a team this year.”

The game was close for the better part of the first two quarters before France used an 8-0 run in the closing minutes of the first half to take a 43-35 lead at the break.

Little used back-up center Pape Badiane scored five of his 12 points in the spurt as Les Bleus went ahead 36-35 and never relinquished the lead.

France extended their lead to 56-46 by the end of the third quarter and Diaw scored 10 of his team-high 18 points to end Turkey’s hopes of a late comeback, despite a three-point barrage by team captain Ibrahim Kutluay and some fine play down low by Kaya Peker.

“The most important thing for us was not so much to win against Turkey but to play a good game because we have to be ready for Russia,” Diaw explained.

“We wanted to go forward and not back in terms of play and we did that against Turkey. We got everybody to play tonight and that's good because we might need all of our players to be ready to step up for the rest of the championship.”

Peker had a game-high 19 points while Kutluay added nine points – all on three-pointers.

France

Pape Badiane: "We played a good game. It was important for us to get ourselves together and get ready for the quarter-finals. It was good that we played well and had a little fun, and it's important for us. Russia is a good team. They will try to revenge the friendly game. We'll need to bring our energy, move our ball a lot and if we do that, we should be fine."

Boris Diaw: "The most important thing for us was not so much to win against Turkey but to play a good game because we have to be ready for Russia. We wanted to go forward and not back in terms of play and we did that against Turkey."

"We got everybody to play tonight and that's good because we might need all of our players to be ready to step up for the rest of the championship. It has been a good practise for tomorrow.

Tariq Kirksay: "This win gives us a bit of confidence going into the game tomorrow. We had to work on some things and I think we did well. I don't know if you want to say it was a practice game, but we wanted to work on some stuff. And we wanted to win and we got some players some confidence. And now we have to be ready for tomorrow."

Coach Claude Bergeaud: "This game was very complicated. Our game needed to have one more practice, and it was important to play a good game before the quarter-finals. We needed to play at the same aggressive style we play every game, although it didn't matter much. We were up and down during the game, especially in defense where we sometimes lack focus."

Turkey

Coach Bogdan Tanjevic: "We made excellent preparation, and I don't know what changed here. We couldn't find the energy to bring from what we showed in the preparation to this tournament."

Ermal Turkoglu: "Not much to say. We didn't play like we wanted the whole tournament. We didn't get to show it in this game too. France is a very good team, and I think they'll go far. I wish them all the best."

Engin Atsur: "We just have to wait and see what happens for us and Turkish basketball. I hope this doesn't do immense damage to Turkish basketball. Obviously we're disappointed, but we're going to try to bounce back as a country in basketball. It hurts because we had a great summer last year. If you look at it, we have great talent, but we just couldn't make it as a team this year."

France (2-2) and Turkey (0-4) meet up in the only game that doesn't hold any significance other than honour on the last day of the qualifying round.

Les Bleus will finish third in Group F regardless of the outcome of this game - and others on the day - as they have beaten both Italy (1-3) and Germany (1-3) and would therefore hold the tiebreaker over both of them.

		Parker must bounce back from his quiet game against Lithuania

Claude Bergeaud's men have already booked their place in the quarter-finals where Russia await them.

Meanwhile Turkey will try to get over a heartbreaking overtime loss to Italy on Monday. That result meant they will miss out on the quarter-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Pride is what is at stake here for Bogdan Tanjevic's side. They would like to leave having won their last game.

Last Time Out: France lost to Lithuania 88-73 after trailing for the entire game, while Turkey fell short against Italy 84-75 after overtime.

Key Match-up: Hidayet Turkoglu v Boris Diaw. Turkoglu stepped up for Turkey in this tournament. He's averaging 21.2 ppg, has scored in double-digits in every game and lit up the Azzurri for 34 points – the third best scoring performance in the tournament. On the other side will be Diaw, France's versatile player who is trying to bounce back after a few shaky displays in the last three games.

X Factor: It will be interesting to see if Tony Parker can bounce back after a very quiet game against Lithuania. The playmaker was limited to just 11 points - half his average so far in the competition - by Lithuania's stifling defense. Ramunas Butautas's men did a good job of double-teaming - and at times even triple-teaming - the NBA Finals MVP and denying him a straight path to the basket. If he can slice his way through Turkey's defense, France will be much better off.

Statistics: 11 for 36 (30.6%). That's what France shot from three-point territory in their loss to Lithuania the last time out. The 36 attempts are a lot more than Bergeaud has ever seen and would like to see ever again. They must cut down on the long range bombs and make a more consciencious effort of attacking the basket and getting easy

Sounding off: "We talked in the locker-room (after the loss to Lithuania) about the Turkish team, who will play without any pressure and maybe without their NBA players. I'm scared about that. The team want to prove themselves at the end of the competition with players from the home country who want to prove that they can play better than the guys from the NBA. And that is very dangerous." - France coach Claude Bergeaud.