They surprised Puerto Rico 77-67 at Seville's Palacio Municipal de Deportes to secure their first victory at the flagship tournament since defeating South Korea 75-72 in 1998 when the event was still called the International Basketball Federation World Championship.

Gorgui Dieng dominated inside with 18 points and 13 rebounds for Senegal, while Puerto Rican leader Carlos Arroyo suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter - from then they were never able to recover.

Elsewhere in Seville, Group B favourites Croatia defeated Argentina 90-85 to claim their second successive victory at this year's World Cup.

"We are playing as a team," said Krunoslav Simon.

"That's the most important thing for us.

"On defence we are helping each other and on offense we are sharing the ball.

"And when we play like that, it's tough to play against us."

The Dominican Republic defeated New Zealand 76-63 ©Getty Images


In Group C, the Dominican Republic beat New Zealand 76-63, while Finland overcame Ukraine 81-76 at the Bizkaia Arena in Bilbao.

Australia also got a win under their belts when they beat South Korea 85-55 and Slovenia continued their impressive start to their Group D campaign by beating Mexico 89-68 at the Gran Canaria Arena.

"We have a lot of outside shooters and outside players that can play," said Goran Dragić.

"There's a lot of open space."

In the first game of Group A, France edged out Serbia 74-73 at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes de Granada.

Despite a scare, defending champions the United States ultimately went on to defeat Turkey in Bilbao. 

Ergin Ataman's Turkish team led 40-35 at half-time but the Americans finally changed their game in the third quarter.

They opened up a 66-60 lead by the end of the frame and then pulled away for a 98-77 victory.

Finally, hosts Spain hammered Egypt 91-54 in Granada.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
August 2014: FIBA hopes to move flagship event out of FIFA World Cup shadow