Here's a rundown of the day one action at EuroBasket 2022.
EuroBasket: EuroLeague stars shine on opening day
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Group A: Spain rolls, Turkey holds on, Belgium wins in OT
Spain made a statement in the opening game of EuroBasket 2022 with a 114-87 rout of Bulgaria in Tbilisi, Georgio. Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv point guard Lorenzo Brown led six Spanish scorers in double figures with 17 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Emil Stoilov scored the first basket of the tournament with a tip-in for Bulgaria, but a 12-0 run led by Willy Hernandez gave Spain the lead for good. It was 28-17 after 10 minutes, 57-35 at halftime and Spain cruised the rest of the way. Will Hernandez finished with 16 points for the winners and Real Madrid's Rudy Fernandez added 14. All-EuroLeague forward Sasha Vezenkov paced Bulgaria with 26 points and 11 rebounds.
Turkey held off Montenegro 72-68 in a thriller that came down to the final seconds. All-EuroLeague guard Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul made 5 of 6 three-pointers to lead Turkey with 18 points and 7 assists. After Furkan Korkmaz put Turkey up 1 with 24 seconds remaining, Montenegro had the ball with a chance to win it. Vladimir Mihailovic missed a jumper and Marko Simonovic was called for an offensive foul after he grabbed the rebound. Korkmaz buried a three from midcourt at the buzzer to settle the final score. Cedi Osman added 15 points for Turkey. Valencia Basket big man Bojan Dublejevic led Montenegro with 18 points and 6 boards.
Jonathan Tabu buried a three-pointer with 3 seconds left in overtime to lift Belgium to a heart-pounding 79-76 victory over Georgia. The hosts erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to tie it at 70-70 to force overtime and when Alexander Mamukelashvili's free throws made it 76-76 with 11 seconds left in the extra session, it appeared a second OT was in the cards. However, Tabu pulled up for the game-winner and Duda Sanadze missed a chance to tie it at the buzzer. Tabu and Jean-Marc Mwema were Belgium's joint scoring leaders with 14 points apiece. Mamukelashvili led Georgia with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Group B: Bosnia, Slovenia win tough games; Germany dominates at home
Bosnia and Herzegovina won the Group B opener 95-85 over Hungary. Dzanan Musa of Real Madrid and Jusuf Nurkic scored 19 points apiece for Bosnia. Hungary led 45-46 at halftime before Musa scored twice in a 10-0 third-quarter run as Bosnia pulled away for good. The margin was 73-63 after three quarters. Adam Hanga, also of Real Madrid, rallied Hungary to within 78-76, but Musa and Nurkic helped Bosnia close out the game in style. Szilard Benke paced Hungary with 20 points and Hanga posted 16 points and 7 rebounds.
Slovenia took charge late to defeat Lithuania 92-85 behind a big game from FC Barcelona's Mike Tobey. The big man played a mighty role for the winners with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block in the fourth quarter alone! Tobey finished with a game-high 24 points plus 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Goran Dragic added 19 points and former EuroLeague MVP Luka Donic tallied 14 points and 10 assists for the winners. Lithuania led by 5 with 6 minutes to go before Slovenia went on a 15-3 tear and held on the rest of the way. Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored 19 and Marius Grigonis of Panathinaikos BC Athens 18 to lead Lithuania.
In front of a packed house on the night when Dirk Nowitzki's German national team No. 14 jersey was raised to the rafters, the home team blasted France 63-76. Germany outscored its opponent in each of the first three quarters with ALBA Berlin big man Johannes Thiemann shining with 7 in the third to extend the margin to 43-57. France never got closer than 9 the rest of the way. Thiemann finished with 14 points to lead the German attack and his ALBA teammate Maodo Lo tallied 13 points and 5 assists. Real Madrid forward Guerschon Yabusele led all scorers with 18 points for France.