Eurobasket super Saturday saw teams get off the mark at the second time of asking as the hosts continue to struggle in this tournament.
Group A
Poland got their first win of the competition by beating Iceland 91-61 in the opening game of the day in Helsinki.
After a close first quarter, the Poles pulled away in the second to take a 41-29 cushion and from there, they never looked back. Adam Kaczynski led the winners with 15 points and six rebounds.
France overcame a late scare to beat Greece 95-87 in game number two, thanks to 21 points by both Evan Fournier and Joffrey Lauvergne with the latter also adding 11 rebounds.
The French though nearly surrendered a lead that for a period went by as many as 15 points due to a frantic comeback by the Greeks. But the French, led by their NBA duo in Fournier and Lauvergne hung on.
Slovenia made it two wins out of two as they defeated Group A hosts Finland 81-78 in the final game of the night in Helsinki.
Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic outdid Chicago Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen as the Slovenian veteran posted 29 points to lead his side to victory.
Group B
Germany made it two wins out of two as a strong fourth quarter showing lifted them to a 67-57 triumph over Georgia in Tel Aviv.
After trailing for the majority of the contest, Germany took the lead late in the third quarter an then held the Georgians to just five points in the final period en route to the win.
Dennis Schroder led Germany for the second game running with 23 points.
Italy remain undefeated in Group B after they beat Ukraine 78-66, thanks to 26 points from Marco Bellinelli.
The Atlanta Hawks shooter shot 50 percent from three-point land as Italy were in no real danger against a physical Ukrainian unit.
Lithuania got off the mark by downing the hosts Israel 88-73 in the final game of the day in Tel Aviv.
Edgaras Ulanovas led the Lithuanians with 18 points as they overcame a slow start to eventually pull away from the hosts.
Group C
Montenegro got their opening win of the Eurobasket tournament with a comfortable 72-48 win over Hungary in Cluj-Napoca.
After a competitive defeat to Croatia yesterday, Hungary were fancied to get something out of this, but found a physical Montenegrin side too much, especially in the second half as the Hungarians ended on a whimper.
Bojan Dubljevic paced the winners with 13 points.
Spain made light work of Czech Republic 93-56 to make it two wins out of two.
Pau Gasol was his usual self with 26 points in 20 minutes, edging ever-closer to that first spot in the FIBA Eurobasket all-time scoring list.
He now needs just 25 more points to overtake Tony Parker as the all-time leading scorer.
Croatia made light work of Group C hosts Romania 74-58 as they remain unbeaten and drop the Romanians to 0-2.
Bojan Bogdanovic paced the Croatians with 21 points and six rebounds.
Group D
Latvia made light work of Belgium 92-64 in the opening game in Istanbul as the tournament dark horses secured their first win of the campaign.
Janis Timma and Kristaps Porzingis both had 27 points for Latvia as they pulled away in the second quarter and just when Belgium were coming back gradually, the New York Knicks star Porzingis led the Latvians race clear to secure a comfortable win.
Russia remain perfect in Group D with a deserved 75-72 win over Serbia in game number two.
Alexey Shved picked up where he left off with 22 points to lead the Russians who will end the day on their own on top of the group.
Group D hosts Turkey secured their first win of the campaign as they beat winless Great Britain 74-60.
Despite the double-digit victory though, Great Britain made life difficult in the third quarter for Turkey, who led for the majority, but in the final quarter, the hosts upped the gears and pulled away as the Brits fatigued.
Melih Mahmutoglu paced Turkey with 24 points
