Italy stun hosts Germany with overtime win at EuroBasket 2015

Italy secured an overtime win over Germany to book their place in the last 16 of EuroBasket 2015 ©FIBA

Italy stunned the packed-out home crowd inside the Berlin Arena by claiming a dramatic 89-82 overtime win over Germany to reach the last 16 of EuroBasket 2015.

In a topsy-turvy Group B encounter, Paul Zipser of Germany’s slam-dunk tied the scores at 82-all late on, which sent the match into an extra period.

Neither side could quite seize the initiative in overtime until Italian Danilo Gallinari edged his side two points ahead with just 44 seconds remaining.

That seemed to deflate the Germans and from that point on, Italy grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck and extended their advantage once again with in the last 30 seconds, before seeing out a victory that secured them a berth in the knockout phase.

Gallinari was the star of the show as he finished with a total of 25 points and was crucial in his side’s recovery from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter.

Three-times EuroBasket champions Lithuania were also involved in a thrilling contest as Jonas Maciulis netted a late basket to hand his nation a narrow 64-62 victory against Estonia in Group D in the Latvian capital Riga.

The Lithuanian side struggled for form throughout and had to rely on Maciulis to spare their blushes and send them through to the last 16.

“He took the ball and I could see it in his eyes and I'm glad he did it because we would be in a lot of trouble,” Maciulis’ team-mate Antanas Kavaliauskas said.

Lithuania avoided a major upset by securing a late victory over Estonia ©FIBA

Elsewhere in Group D, hosts Latvia succumbed to a surprise 75-74 loss at the hands of Ukraine as Oleksandr Lypovyy, star of the show in an evenly-matched encounter, found the net with two late free-throws to hand his side victory.

Serbia were in dominant form once again as they registered their fourth win of the event by cruising to a comfortable 91-72 success against Turkey in Group B in Berlin to secure a top-two finish.

Georgia, meanwhile, gave their hopes of qualification for the next round a boost as they beat Macedonia 90-75 in Group C in Zagreb.

In the same group, the host country fought back from 12 points down to beat The Netherlands 78-72, while over in Montpellier, defending champions France, who have already qualified, rallied from 13 points behind to oust Olympic bronze medallists Russia 74-67 to keep their unbeaten run intact.

Action is due to continue across all four groups tomorrow.