In Group D, hosts Greece eased past Croatia 64-41 as Vasilis Charalampopoulos and Giorgos Papagiannis combined for 29 points for the winners.
Also grabbing an opening day Group D win were Lithuania, who beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 73-50thanks to 19 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals from Martynas Varnas.
Reigning champions Turkey survived a tough fight on the opening day of action at the 2015 U18 European Championship while Germany upset Serbia and hosts Greece put on a strong display in front of the home fans.
The two-time defending champs Turkey came back in the final minute to beat Italy 49-48 in Group C. Turkey star Furkan Korkmaz scored 19 points but needed Ercan Bayrak to rebound and put back his missed three-pointer before Enes Taskiran hit the game-deciding free throw with 10 seconds.
The other Group C game saw Timofey Yakushin score 22 points as one of five Russians in double figures in an 89-62 win over Finland.
While Turkey survived the scare, Serbia were bounced in their opening game in Group B, losing 65-56 to Germany. Kostja Mushidi scored 16 points to lead Germany, who were promoted from Division B last summer.
In the other Group B encounter, Verners Kohs scored 15 of his 18 points in the final 5:47 minutes with four three-pointers as Latvia beat Montenegro 70-61. Montenegro wasted a 28-point performance by Milos Popovic.
The day's top big-name showdown came in Group A where France pulled away in the fourth quarter to pick up a 64-58 win over Spain. Luc Loubaki scored 18 points for the French.
Czech Republic are also 1-0 in Group A after nearly handing away their game against Ukraine, winning 68-65 as Ukraine cut a 10-point deficit to one inside the final minute. Ondrej Fleischhans paced the Czechs with 15 points, four assists and five steals.
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