TIRANA (FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers) - Albania put up a fight, but Armenia started the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers with an 80-63 away win on Thursday. The Armenians will host Denmark on Sunday.

Turning point: The start of the second half. Albania were in this one, down by 4 after 20 minutes, but Armenia switched through the gears after the break, exploding for an 18-4 spell early in the third to grab a 60-42 lead. Ryan Boatright collected his 10th assist and Albert Tatevosyan was on the receiving end more often than not, with 10 of his 20 points coming in that run.

Game hero: Albania were trying to keep Ryan Boatright away from the basket, so he decided to get his teammates involved, finishing with 14 assists. When they backed off, Boatright kept hitting shots and got to the line to amass 20 points. His totals could have been even higher, but the Besiktas guard shot just 2-of-8 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 9 times. He also had 6 rebounds to his name.

Stats don't lie: Shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc should do the trick in most games, and Armenia made 12 of their 29 attempts from deep to stay above that percentage. However, Albania struggled to make shots, with just 5-of-27 from three-point range.

Game notes: Andrew Chrabascz had the best field-goal percentage among the players with 50+ attempts during the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Pre-Qualifiers during the summer. Old habits die hard, Chrabascz shot 7-of-11 for his 18 points against Albania.

They said: "I am satisfied with my players. They were totally taking advantage of assists, rebounds and three-points shots. The only problem we had was on offensive rebounds in the second half. We deserved this victory" - Niksa Bavcevic.