By David Gold

Luol_Deng_02-09-11September 2 - Great Britain face an uphill struggle to qualify for the second phase of the EuroBasket in Lithuania after falling to an opening game defeat against the hosts and then following it up with a loss to Turkey.

Chris Finch's men had surged into a 51-39 lead by the third quarter after fighting back against the hosts in Panevėžys, but they succumbed to the Lithuanians in the final quarter.

Rimantas Kaukėnas was the hero with 10 points in the final quarter as Britain fell to a 80-69 defeat.

One bright spot was the form of Luol Deng, who took 25 points for Britain against Lithuania, and continued the good form with another 22 in the disappointing defeat to Turkey.

After their opponents took a 13-3 lead early on, Britain were unable to fight back and eventually succumbed to a 90-61 loss.

These results place Britain at the bottom of Group A on two points, just behind Poland and Portugal, and outside of the top three place they need to reach to progress to the next round.

With three teams left to play in the group, starting with defending champions Spain on Friday, Portugal on Sunday and Poland on Monday, Finch's side have much work left to do.

In Group B, it has been a positive start for the Germans, who thrashed Israel 90-64 in their opener before defeating Italy 76-62.

France beat Latvia 89-78 before defeating Israel 85-68 to put themselves in a great position for the second round.

Greece led the way in Group C after 76-67 and 81-61 wins against Bosnia and Finland respectively.

In Group D, it is Russia and Slovenia who have seized the initiative, beating Ukraine and Georgia, and Bulgaria and Ukraine respectively.

The second round will see the top three teams from each group divided into two groups of six, with the top four in both groups progressing to the quarterfinals.

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