Tokyo Olympics: Italy beat Germany 92-82 in Basketball opener
Simone Fontecchio scored 20 points, Nicolo Melli had seven points in a game-ending 12-0 run and Italy beat Germany 92-82 in the opening games for both teams at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
Danilo Gallinari and Stefano Tonut each scored 18 for Italy, which rallied from a 12-point deficit and held Germany scoreless for the game’s final 4:45. Melli scored 13 and Nico Mannion had 10 for Italy.
Maodo Lo scored 24 points for Germany, which led by 12 in the first half and went up 82-80 on a basket by Moritz Wagner with 4:46 remaining but never scored again. Issac Bonga scored 13, while Wagner and Andreas Obst each had 12 for Germany.
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The Germans missed their final eight shots.
It was Italy’s first game in the Olympics since losing the gold-medal game in 2004. Germany was making its first Olympic basketball appearance since 2008.
Both teams play again on Wednesday as Group B preliminaries continue; Italy faces Australia and Germany faces Nigeria.