Greece’s Nikos Zisis (right) vies for the ball with Georgia’s Giorgi Tsintsadze during the Group C qualification basketball match at the Eurobasket 2015 in Zagreb. (AFP)

DPA/Zagreb

Serbia, Greece and Croatia exhibited on Tuesday why they are considered title contenders with comfortable victories to remain undefeated at EuroBasket 2015, while Italy and Turkey came up with big wins in a tough Group B.
2014 World Cup runners-up Serbia eased to a perfect 3-0 record in Group B by blasting past Iceland 93-64 in Berlin. Nikola Nedovic scored 15 points to pace four Serbians in double figures while Bogdan Bogdanovic flirted with a triple-double with nine points, seven rebounds and six assists.
“I have to congratulate my players on the seriousness and responsibility with which they approached this game. We played with desire to win,” Serbian coach Sasha Djordjevic said.
Iceland dropped to 0-3 despite Logi Gunnarsson scoring 18 points. The other two games in Group B were high-level showdowns, with Italy and Turkey grabbing crucial wins. Danilo Gallinari and Marco Belinelli combined for 56 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists as Italy beat Spain 105-98 to jump to 2-1. Spain dropped to 1-2 despite Pau Gasol scoring 34 points.
Turkey picked up a second victory in Group B by knocking off hosts Germany 80-75. Cedi Osman paced five Turks in double figures with 17 points while Semih Erden collected 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Germany, who got 24 points from Dennis Schroeder, fell to 1-2 in the group. Just like Serbia in Group B, Greece top Group C in Zagreb with a perfect 3-0 record after a strong 79-68 victory over Georgia.
Nick Calathes collected 19 points and eight assists while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kostas Koufos added 12 points each in the win. Georgia dropped to 0-3 despite Tornike Shengalia’s 20 points, but the eastern Europeans still have a chance to advance as one of the top four teams in the group to the knockout stage in Lille, France.
Slovenia took a big step toward Lille with an 81-74 win over the Netherlands. Slovenia wasted a 16-point lead, but Zoran Dragic and Klemen Prepelic combined for nine points in the final 58 seconds to secure the victory and a 2-1 record in Group C.
Prepelic paced Slovenia with 16 points and six assists while Dragic chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“The game was very tough for us. We started very well. We had a 16-point lead, and we had a blackout in the third quarter,” said Dragic, who could not stop the Netherlands from using a 16-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to tie the game.
“It was tough to stop them, but we fought back and won.”
The Dutch lost star big man Henk Norel to a knee injury late in the first half while Charlon Kloof scored 25 points and Worthy De Jong added 19 points in the loss.
The Netherlands dropped to 1-2 in the group and now face a major obstacle to finish in the top four of the group with remaining games against Greece and Croatia.
Croatia bounced back from their loss to Greece by beating Macedonia 73-55. Dario Saric collected 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists in the win.