U18 European Championship Greece ease past Croatia in opoener

Hosts Greece opened their 2015 U18 European Championship campaign with a comfortable 64-41 victory over Croatia in Group D. Vasileios Charalampopoulos led the way with 17 points while Georgios Papagiannis had 12 points for the Greeks. Ivica Zubac had eight points and 18 rebounds for Croatia.

In Group D, hosts Greece eased past Croatia 64-41 as Vasilis Charalampopoulos and Giorgos Papagiannis combined for 29 points for the winners.

Also grabbing an opening day Group D win were Lithuania, who beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 73-50thanks to 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals from Martynas Varnas.

Reigning champions Turkey survived a tough fight on the opening day of action at the 2015 U18 European Championship while Germany upset Serbia and hosts Greece put on a strong display in front of the home fans.

The two-time defending champs Turkey came back in the final minute to beat Italy 49-48 in Group C. Turkey star Furkan Korkmaz scored 19 points but needed Ercan Bayrak to rebound and put back his missed three-pointer before Enes Taskiran hit the game-deciding free throw with 10 seconds. 

The other Group C game saw Timofey Yakushin score 22 points as one of five Russians in double figures in an 89-62 win over Finland. 

While Turkey survived the scare, Serbia were bounced in their opening game in Group B, losing 65-56 to Germany. Kostja Mushidi scored 16 points to lead Germany, who were promoted from Division B last summer.

In the other Group B encounter, Verners Kohs scored 15 of his 18 points in the final 5:47 minutes with four three-pointers as Latvia beat Montenegro 70-61. Montenegro wasted a 28-point performance by Milos Popovic. 

The day's top big-name showdown came in Group A where France pulled away in the fourth quarter to pick up a 64-58 win over Spain. Luc Loubaki scored 18 points for the French. 

Czech Republic are also 1-0 in Group A after nearly handing away their game against Ukraine, winning 68-65 as Ukraine cut a 10-point deficit to one inside the final minute. Ondrej Fleischhans paced the Czechs with 15 points, four assists and five steals.