LIGNANO SABBIADORO (2015 U20 European Championship Div. A) - Defending champions Turkey were made to work hard by Great Britain on Tuesday but got off to a winning start at the U20 European Championship in Italy, as they prevailed 59-57 in overtime.

Turkey built a 13-point lead in the second quarter but Great Britain clawed their way back during the third quarter, jumped into the driver's seat and went into the final two minutes of regulation holding a 53-48 lead.

Turkey point guard Kartal Ozmizrak first knocked down a triple and then tied the scores at 53 all, with a lay-up 18 seconds from the end of regulation, to send the game into overtime.

With less than two seconds remaining to the end of the extra period, forward Tolga Gecim sunk a jumper from the elbow to win it for Turkey.

Metecan Birsen had 10 points and six rebounds for the winners, all in the first half, while Ozmizrak finished with nine points and six assists and Gecim finished with eight.

In the other Group D game, Germany raced to a 55-36 lead over Slovenia late in the third, but the Slovenes came up with a monumental comeback effort to tie the scores at 63 all within 13 minutes.

In the dying seconds however Andreas Obst kept his composure at the stripe, sunk four consecutive free throws and Germany breathed with relief as they secured a 68-63 win.

In Group A, Italy also needed Tommaso Laquintana to make decisive free throws in the final 19 seconds of their clash with Croatia and the guard duly obliged, hitting three of four from the line to lift the tournament hosts to a hard-earned 53-50 victory.

Alessandro Cappelletti paced Italy with 14 points and six rebounds while Laquintana finished with 13 points.

Belgium claimed their first-ever win in U20 European Championship Division A, in a replay of last year's Division B final.

The Belgians held on to pick up a 59-51 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, as point guard Emmanuel Lecomte collected a game-high 21 points and left-handed power forward Andy van Vliet came off the bench and added nine points and eight boards.

In Group B, Israel let slip a 23-point first-half lead but still kept Bulgaria at arm's length down the stretch and celebrated a 79-68 win.

Orr Leumi poured in 19 points to lead four Israel players in double digits while Itay Segev chipped in with 13 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and also drew nine fouls.

In the other game in the group, Latvia came up with a rock-solid defensive display in the second half to break open a tight game and claim a 61-50 win over Greece.

Ervins Meznieks came off the bench and provided Latvia with some much-needed long-range shooting, en route to a game-high 12 points, while Rihards Lomazs added 11 points for the winners.

In Group C, Spain managed to shake off the persistent Czech Republic only in the fourth frame and ultimately recorded a 71-54 win, behind 21 points, nine rebounds and four steals by Juan Hernangomez.

Spain are joined at the top of the group standings after one day of action by Ukraine, who followed a path similar to that of the Spanish against Poland.

Ukraine outscored the Poles 22-7 in the final period to pick up a 79-55 success, on the back of a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds by Oleksandr Antypov.

Go to http://u20men.fibaeurope.com/en/ for complete coverage of the 2015 U20 European Championship Div. A.

FIBA