2 Sep 2011

germany 2 from 2 at European basketball champs

6:20 pm on 2 September 2011

Germany made it two wins out of two at the European basketball championship in Lithuainia with a 76-62 Group B victory over Italy thanks to an impressive performance by American-born centre Chris Kaman on Thursday.

France beat Israel 85-68 with another majestic display by point guard Tony Parker while hosts Lithuania crushed Poland 97-77 and holders Spain beat Portugal 87-73.

Serbia, the 2009 runners-up, beat Latvia 92-77 and Macedonia stunned Croatia 78-76.

Russia, the strongest team in Group D, suffered a late scare in an emotional clash with neighbours Georgia and came out on top 65-58 thanks to Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko who finished with 20 points.