EuroBasket - Another day of thrillers

LJUBLJANA (EuroBasket/FIBA Basketball World Cup) - EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia is going to be remembered as one of the best of all time if the event keeps serving up one nail-biting finish after another.

The second day of the competition saw Latvia, Croatia and the Czech Republic clinch one-point victories in the final seconds, while tournament hosts Slovenia battled back from eight points down to beat Spain, 78-69.

The Slovenians, who narrowly avoided an upset to the Czechs on the opening night, took the lead for good against the two-time defending champions with 3:08 remaining when Bostjan Nachbar buried a three-pointer, one of eight on the night for the home team.

The shot made it 70-68 and Goran Dragic added to the advantage with a fast-break dunk soon after.

He finished with 18 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals, while Nachbar had 14 points and Zoran Dragic 12.

The Slovenians got contributions from numerous players on Thursday night as the crowd roared them on, with Edo Muric drilling a couple of three-balls.

In an extremely physical encounter, Spain center Marc Gasol had 17 points and seven boards and Jose Calderon added 14 points after nailing four of five shots from the arc.

Croatia had to recover from a 28-point beat-down at the hands of Spain and did, getting an Ante Tomic drive with nine seconds to go for a 77-76 advantage against Georgia.

Igor Kokoskov's men brought the ball up the floor and George Tsintsadze, who poured in a game-high 25 points, got into the lane but forced up a difficult shot that was off target.

Dontaye Draper was spectacular at times for Croatia, scoring 16 points.

Ricky Hickman had 15 of his 20 points for Georgia in the first half.

"Both teams deserved to win but we had luck on our side," said Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa.

"We used up a lot of energy today so it's very important for us that we have a day off tomorrow (Friday)."

In another Group C thriller played in Celje, Jan Vesely led the Czech Republic with 23 point, 14 rebounds and four steals as they edged Poland, 69-68.

Lubos Barton, called for a travel at the end of Wednesday night's 62-60 defeat to hosts Slovenia, hit two key three-pointers in the last quarter for the Czechs, the second with just four seconds remaining to give Pavel Budinsky's team a one-point lead.

Poland rushed the ball up the floor but Maciej Lampe's long jump shot missed.

The Czechs, making their first appearance at a EuroBasket since 2007, were in celebratory mood after the win.

"It's a great moment for us," Budinsky said. "We're very happy."

The team may not have Tomas Satoransky for the next game, though, with the point guard having to leave the game due to a shoulder injury.

Slovenia are at the top of Group C in Celje, while Spain, the Czech Republic, Georgia and Croatia follow with 1-1 marks.

Poland are 0-2 heading into the off-day.

Latvia followed up their opening win against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a 73-72 Group B triumph over Montenegro, a team that had scraped an 81-80 triumph over The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) on Wednesday.

Ainars Bagatskis' team prevailed on Day 2 with Kristaps Janicenoks hitting a go-ahead jumper just six seconds from the end.

Having trailed by eight points, the Latvians rallied with Janicenoks' 15 points leading the way.

Rolands Freianis weighed in with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Baltic side, a team that few expected to be 2-0 in the so called 'group of death' in Jesenice.

Montenegro attempted to win in the final seconds but the hero of their opening day triumph, Tyrese Rice, missed a lay-up and Latvia snatched the rebound.

"We are an experienced team and we have a tough mentality," Janicenoks said. "And this is what kept us in the game.

"We're tired now, the next game is against Lithuania, which is the Baltic derby. It won't be easy, either."

Also in Group B, Lithuania gained partial revenge for the Quarter-Final upset at EuroBasket 2011 to MKD, beating them 75-67.

The Baltic side had lost their opener to Serbia but they rebounded with an important triumph as Mantas Kalnietis poured in 17 points.

Lithuania led by as many as 13 points in the game.

Serbia won their game earlier in the day against Bosnia and Herzegovina, 77-67, with Stefan Markovic pouring in a team-high 15 points for the victors.

"Yesterday, against Lithuania, we were underdogs," Markovic said. "But today, we needed to prove that we are a serious team. So for us, this game was very tough.

"Tomorrow is another day. These two games are in the past. We need to forget this. We need to focus on tomorrow because MKD is a also a tough opponent."

Serbia and Latvia are at the top of Group B with 2-0 marks, following by Montenegro and Lithuania (both 1-1).

MKD and Bosnia and Herzegovina are 0-2.

Finland, Italy and Greece continued their terrific starts in Group D, winning for the second time in a row.

In the Scandinavian derby with Sweden, Finland rolled to an 81-60 victory.

Gerald Lee led a balanced attack with 14 points and Sweden's Jeffery Taylor poured in a game-high 19 in defeat.

Italy, despite the loss of key players before the tournament, won again, beating Turkey, 90-75.

Pietro Aradori, the team's 24-year-old shooting guard, had 23 points and up-and-coming star Alessandro Gentile chipped in 20 for the Italians.

The 22-year-old center Nicolo Melli was also a major factor for the Azzurri with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Turkey boss Bogdan Tanjevic, the coach of Italy's title-winning side at EuroBasket 1999, said: "They have very talented young players. And they did great against our big guys. Melli did great and had a good impact on the game."

Greece, a team that many feel can go all the way, won again to finish Thursday's action in Koper.

They fell behind early against Russia (0-2) but hit back for an 80-71 victory, their second in a row.

Kostas Kaimakoglou and Vassilis Spanoulis each had 11 points.

The Greeks went in front by 22 points at one stage.

In Group A, Ukraine improved to 2-0 with a 74-67 victory over Israel, a team reeling after its opening-day overtime setback to Great Britain.

Sergey Gladyr had 17 points for Mike Fratello's team, which overcame 21 turnovers.

Germany weren't able to follow up their upset of France with another win.

Belgium got 15 points from Jonathan Tabu in a 77-73 win.

France hit back from their upset against Germany by thumping Great Britain, 88-65.

Nicolas Batum had 17 points and Tony Parker 16 for France, who started strong and led 26-14 by the end of the opening quarter.

Six places for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup are up for grabs at the EuroBasket. The hosts of next year's tournament, Spain, already have a place in the tournament.

For full and in-depth coverage of EuroBasket 2013, go to the official website http://www.eurobasket2013.org.

FIBA