Italy bounced back from some poor results with a fine 81-71 win over Lithuania.

With Gianluca Basile outstanding with a personal haul of 34 points it was the Azzurri who emerged as the deserved victors on the night against Lithuania, who came agonisingly close to beating the American Dream Team in the Sydney Olympics.

Giorgio Chiacig also impressed for the Italians with a personal haul of 12 points while Sandro De Pol posted 10 points.

The result will be a lift for coach Carlo Recalcati who has been under pressure with unimpressive form over the summer.

For the Baltic outfit Darius Songalia managed 12 points as did Donatis Slanina while Darjus Lavrinivic top-scored with 17.

Israel and France are the other two countries taking part in the four-team tournament which serves as a warm-up for the European championships.