BILBAO (2015 FIBA U19 World Championship) - Spain and Croatia continued their strong preparations for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship with victories at home in tournament warm-ups.

Spain hosted a four-team friendly tournament featuring three teams preparing for Greece, with Argentina and Dominican Republic being the other two sides. Croatia, meanwhile, finished off their warm-ups in Dubrovnik, where Australia, Greece and Turkey were also playing.

In Bilbao, Sergi Garcia scored 16 points and Ramon Vila added 10 as Spain beat Dominican Republic 79-73. 

The Dominicans out-rebounded Spain 48-30 but shot just 37 percent for the game and committed 28 turnovers. Jeromy Rodriguez had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in the loss while Andres Feliz scored 13 points and Yerri Flores added 10 points.

Spain picked up a second victory as they beat Argentina 69-59 as Xabi Lopez collected 14 points, six rebounds and five steals while Garcia and Vila both had 11 points.

The Spanish also forced 20 Argentina turnovers as the South Americans were paced by 15 points from Pablo Gramajo while Rodrigo Gerhardt had 12 points and Jose Vildoza chipped in 10 points.

Argentina's loss came a day after beating Basque regional team Euskadi 84-69 thanks to 26 points from Martin Fernandez and 25 points from Gramajo while Gerhardt had 10 points. 

The Dominicans meanwhile suffered two losses in Bilbao, losing to Euskadi 52-51 as they committed 27 turnovers and shot just 29 percent from the floor, including just 1-of-20 from three-point range. Jhonathan Araujo and Weisner Perez both scored 14 points in the defeat.

The other U19 Worlds friendly tournament going on was in Dubrovnik where Croatia defeated Turkey 91-66 in the game for first place. The inside duo of Ante Zizic and Ivica Zubac was plenty for Croatia as they combined for 35 points and 17 rebounds while Dragan Bender collected 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Luka Bozic chipped in 12 points and Nik Slavica added 10 points for Croatia, who shot 63 percent for the game and out-rebounded the Turks 42-20.

Turkey, who were playing without a number of their top players, got 14 points from Yigit Arslan while Ogulcan Baykan had 10 points.

Greece won third place in Dubrovnik by beating the Croatian U20 team 75-57 with Tyler Dorsey leading the way with 23 points and Dimitrios Stamatis had 13 points.

Australia bounced back to take fifth place by beating the Montenegro U20 team 79-67. 

FIBA