Montenegro, Croatia back from the brink at U18 European Championship

                                                           Greece

VOLOS (2015 U18 European Championship) - Croatia and Montenegro both put together big comebacks for their first victories at the 2015 U18 European Championship while Lithuania handed hosts Greece their first defeat on the second day of action and in the process secured a Second Round ticket.

Croatia trailed by 24 points early in the third quarter but came all the way back to win 77-76 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatian captain Ivica Zubac scored 14 of his 15 points in the final 14 minutes of play including the game-winning layup with seven seconds left. Zubac also had 13 rebounds, two steals and four blocks as Croatia improved to 1-1 in Group D. Bosnia and Herzegovinadropped to 0-2.

Group D saw another highlight in the final game in Nea Ionia Hall as Martynas Varnas scored the final six points for Lithuania in a 70-64 win over Greece. Varnas finished with 14 points, five assists and three rebounds to power Lithuania to a 2-0 mark while Greece dropped to 1-1.

Montenegro came up with a comeback of their own in Group B, though not as miraculous as that of Croatia. The Montenegrins trailed 45-35 but beat Germany 64-55 thanks to Marko Grkovic and Filip Bakic who nailed five of their combined nine three-pointers in the final 10 minutes.

All four teams in Group B are 1-1 after Serbia used a 16-2 run spanning the final two quarters and held on to beat Latvia 67-64. David Miladinovic had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Serbs.

In Group A, France backed up their Day 1 win over Spain with a 75-38 blowout of Czech Republic to move to 2-0 and into the Second Round. Stephane Gombauld led the way for France with 18 points and 10 rebounds while the Czechs dropped to 1-1.

Spain bounced back for their first victory by holding off Ukraine 70-68, as Ramon Vila's 15 points paced four Spaniards in double figures. While Spain moved to 1-1, Ukraine dropped to 0-2 and will now play against relegation.

Group C is topped by two-time reigning champs Turkey, who are 2-0 after a strong second half for an80-63 victory over Finland. Turkey's star duo Furkan Korkmaz and Omer Yurtseven combined for 23 points with Yurtseven picking up a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to make sure that Turkey is into the next stage of the Championship. Finland are now 0-2.

The other two teams in Group C are 1-1 as Italy booked their first win by knocking off Russia 63-54 thanks to 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals from Luca Cesana.