FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2016: Thursday Basketball Results, Highlights

The group stage of the 2016 FIBA men's Olympic qualifying tournaments came to a close Thursday with the final two games taking place in Manila, Philippines. Turkey earned a berth in the knockout phase with a victory over Senegal, while France clinched the top seed in its pool with a win against New Zealand.

The top two national teams from each group are now moving on to the semifinal round. The next several days will now feature a series of win-or-go-home contests in each of the three qualifying tournaments. The three champions left standing from the sites in the Philippines, Serbia and Italy will punch their tickets to Rio de Janeiro for the upcoming Summer Olympics.

With that in mind, let's check out the final scores from the group fixtures. That's followed by a look at the standings and a recap of the day's action.

Thursday's Results

Event	Winning Team	Losing Team	Score
Manila	Turkey	Senegal	68-62
Manila	France	New Zealand	66-59

Final Group Standings

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	PD	PTS
-	Belgrade A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Serbia	2	2	0	+29	4
2	Puerto Rico	2	1	1	+4	3
3	Angola	2	0	2	-33	2
-	Belgrade B	-	-	-	-	-
1	Latvia	2	2	0	+52	4
2	Czech Republic	2	1	1	+4	3
3	Japan	2	0	2	-56	2
-	Manila A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Canada	2	2	0	+11	4
2	Turkey	2	1	1	-2	3
3	Senegal	2	0	2	-9	2
-	Manila B	-	-	-	-	-
1	France	2	2	0	+16	4
2	New Zealand	2	1	1	+2	3
3	Philippines	2	0	2	-18	2
-	Turin A	-	-	-	-	-
1	Greece	2	2	0	+41	4
2	Mexico	2	1	1	-11	3
3	Iran	2	0	2	-30	2
-	Turin B	-	-	-	-	-
1	Italy	2	2	0	+34	4
2	Croatia	2	1	1	+13	3
3	Tunisia	2	0	2	-47	2

Turkey 68, Senegal 62

Although Turkey did enough to secure a spot in the next phase of the tournament, it was hardly the type of momentum-building performance the eighth-ranked team in the world sought to close group play with.

The European side shot just 34.3 percent from the field and 56.7 percent from the free-throw line. It also lost the rebounding battle 51-40 and blocked just a single shot. A similar performance against a stronger opponent would lead to a blowout loss.

That's something Turkey head coach Ergin Ataman certainly understands. He didn't attempt to sugarcoat the performance because his team won. He went as far as calling it a "disaster game," according to Camille B. Naredo of ABS-CBN News.

"We are playing terribly," Ataman said, per Paolo del Rosario of CNN Philippines. "This kind of offensive performance is unacceptable."

Ali Muhammed was one of the few bright spots, as he posted 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists to pace the Turkish side. His shooting woes mirrored the rest of the squad, however, as he connected on just six of his 21 shot attempts.

Maleye N'Doye had 15 points and nine rebounds for Senegal. Maurice Ndour also chipped in 14 points and 11 boards in the team's losing effort. The defeat marks the end of the road for the Lions, who have been eliminated from title contention.

Paul Lintag of ABS-CBN Sports highlighted the crowd's reaction after the contest:

Looking ahead, Turkey has a day off before facing France in the semifinals Saturday. To say there's a lot of work to do in that short time frame is probably an understatement. It needs to make major strides in terms of offensive execution to have a realistic chance of earning an Olympic bid.

The silver lining for Turkey is that France hasn't showcased top form, either. Its two victories in the group stage were both by single digits. So whichever team is able to make the necessary improvement before tip-off in the knockout round will reach the title game.

France 66, New Zealand 59

France came alive to score 28 points in the fourth quarter after putting up just 38 in the first three. The late surge allowed them to complete a furious comeback against New Zealand, clinching first place in Group B in the process.

It was a complete team effort as Mickael Gelabale led the way with 11 points. Boris Diaw and Kim Tillie both scored 10. San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker failed to make much of an impact, scoring six points with only one assist in 24 minutes, 57 seconds of action.

Corey Webster had a strong outing for New Zealand with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists. He didn't receive much help from his teammates, however. No other player reached double-digit scoring, and the team as a whole shot just 30.3 percent from the field.

France head coach Vincent Collet believes some of those struggles can be traced to improvements by his squad in its second game.

"We played better defense than on Tuesday," he said afterward, per Jonas Terrado of Manila Bulletin Sports.

Reuben Terrado of the Sports Interactive Network noted Collet is also expecting reinforcements for the knockout round with the return of Nicolas Batum. He's been sidelined while waiting for the free-agent moratorium period to end in the NBA.

That's great news for France, which struggled to find an offensive rhythm throughout much of Thursday's narrow victory. Batum can bring much needed energy and three-point shooting to the equation, as the Blues enter the must-win portion of the event.

As mentioned, neither France nor Turkey has played its best basketball so far. It leaves the door open for either side to advance from what should be a highly competitive semifinal. That said, missing the Olympics would be a massive disappointment for a French squad ranked fifth in the world.

All game statistics courtesy of FIBA's official site.