Ukraine coach Hennadiy Zaschuk believes the team's failure to make it past the preliminary round of the EuroBasket was wholly predictable.

A youthful Ukraine side suffered heavy defeats in all three of their Group A matches against Russia, Germany and Italy, ending their hopes of reaching the latter stages of the tournament which is being held in Serbia & Montenegro.

Four Italians scored in double figures as Italy beat Ukraine 99-62 on Sunday at the 2005 EuroBasket to keep alive their chances of repeating their bronze medal from 2003.

Dante Calabria led all scorers with 20 points, while Alex Righetti had 19, Massimo Bulleri added 14 and Denis Marconato chipped in 12. Italy collected their second win in Group A, but thanks to Germany's win over Russia, finished in third place in the group and will have to travel to Podgorica to play an elimination game against Croatia.

Italy look to shake off their big loss against Russia and save their 2005 EuroBasket campaign with a victory against Ukraine on Sunday in Group A.

Italian coach Carlo Recalcati said his team must come up with the energy they showed against Germany, when they overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win in overtime.

Ukraine has taken part in three of the last four European championships but has always failed to make it past the first round. The 2003 tournament was particularly disappointing as the national team lost all three of its games. With the retirement of key figures from the late 90’s a new generation of talented Ukrainian players has now taken over and will try to beat the odds in a very competitive group A.