Israel surprise Turkey on opening day, Saranovic stars in Serbia's winning return

HERAKLION (Greece) - Three-time champions Serbia made a successful return to Division A at the FIBA U20 European Championship 2023 with a victory on a Day 1 that also featured Israel surprising Turkey and title holders Spain registering a statement win.

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Key Storylines

- Serbia win in return to Div A; Spain, France, Lithuania make statements

- Israel surprise Turkey with big 14-assist show from Noam Yaacov

- Almar Atlason scores 27 points, Iceland grab first Div A win since 2018

Top Performers

Evangelos Zougris was unstoppable for Greece in their tight win over Poland with 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting while grabbing 17 rebounds - 9 of them from the offensive glass, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block for an efficiency of 36 - the top performance of the opening day.

While Zougris and Greece were successful, Samet Yigitoglu could not help Turkey to a win despite scoring 18 points on 7-of-11 shots while also grabbing 12 rebounds and 3 blocks resulting in an efficiency of 29.

Nikola Saranovic made sure Serbia won their return to Division A with a bit of everything in a convincing defeat of Estonia, collecting a team-high 17 points as well as 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals for an efficiency of 28. 

That was the same efficiency for Thijs De Ridder, who played a major role in Belgium's win over Italy with 20 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block - as well as 5 points in the decisive fourth quarter run.

Spain routed Montenegro and the top player for the defending champs was Ruben Dominguez. The FIBA U16 European Championship 2019 MVP delivered 23 points including 4-of-8 three-pointers and also chipped in 4 rebounds and 3 assists for an efficiency of 23.  

Results of the Day

Group A

Belgium 72-64 Italy
Israel 86-70 Turkey

Group B

Estonia 61-82 Serbia
Spain 103-68 Montenegro

Group C

Poland 67-72 Greece 
Lithuania 86-67 Croatia

Group D

Iceland 70-68 Slovenia
France 80-63 Germany

FIBA