Lithuania made Sarunas Jasikevicius's return to the National Team a special one as the 2003 EuroBasket champions cruised past Turkey 86-69 to grab an opening day victory in Group C.

Jasikevicius, widely regarded as one of Europe's best players, fought off a knee injury to collect 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a dominating Lithuania win.

Rimantas Kaukenas added 14 points while Linas Kleiza and Darius Songalia each had 12 points, and Ramunas Siskauskas added 10.

"This was a difficult game for us. It was the start of the European championship and against a very strong Turkey team. They are great team and have one of the best coaches in Europe. The start was very hard, but we played a lot better later, especially in the defence. But this is just the first game of the tournament," said Lithuania coach Ramunas Butautas.

Butautas's team out-rebounded Turkey 42-31, off-setting a shaky showing from beyond the three-point arc as the Lithuanians made just six-of-18 treys.

"We knew we definitely needed to start good. Turkey is an emotional team and we knew they would start strong. But it's just one win. There are still eight more to go," added Kleiza.

Turkey, who were led by 18 points from Hidayet Turkoglu and 17 from Ibrahim Kutluay, led 10-5 in the early stages.

But 10 first quarter points by Siskauskas pushed Lithuania ahead 19-16 after one period.

Turkey were in front for the final time 24-23 on Kutluay's three-pointer, as a Jasikevicius three-pointer sparked a 10-0 run.

The lead grew to as high as 12 before Lithuania went into the locker-room ahead 44-36.

Butautas's side opened the second half on a 10-2 run for a 54-38 lead.

Turkey trailed 63-48 after three periods and eventually closed to within 10 points on two occasions, but Jasikevicius, Songalia and Kleiza all hit three-pointers down the stretch to keep Turkey away.

Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic said Lithuania belongs among the favourites of the tournament, adding: "We found them on a roll tonight. I think they are one of the best teams in Europe. And they played a great game tonight. They showed all the talent they have and beat us in everything."

Turkey take on Germany on Tuesday while Lithuania face the Czech Republic.

Turkey

Coach Bogdan Tanjevic: "We found them on a roll tonight. I think they are one of the best teams in Europe. And they played a great game tonight. They showed all the talent they have and beat us in everything."

Ibrahim Kutluay: "We wanted to start the tournament with a victory. We lost the first game but the tournament is not over with for us. We still have two more games. We just have to forget this game tonight and have to cover our mistakes."

Lithuania

Coach Ramunas Butautas: "This was a difficult game for us. It was the start of the European championship and against a very strong Turkey team. They are great team and have one of the best coaches in Europe. The start was very hard, but we played a lot better later, especially in the defence. But this is just the first game of the tournament."

Sarunas Jasikevicius: "It's very nice to be back out there. We've probably had one or two games in the pre-season that we really enjoyed each other. And I think we really enjoyed the game as well. The result is great, there's no doubt about it, but we're looking forward."

Rimantas Kaukenas: "The first game is always important, psychologically and mentally. It's important that we really start to feel each other because we really played up and down in the pre-season friendly games. So we need to get in a rhythm - and start playing harder on both on defense as well as on offense."

Linas Kleiza: "We knew we definitely needed to start good. Turkey is an emotional team and we knew they would start strong. But it's just one win. There are still eight more to go."

Reinforced by the likes of Sarunas Jasikevicius, 2003 EuroBasket champions Lithuania look on course to challenge fortheir fourth title.

But they must contend with a motivated Turkey side - welcoming the return of NBA stars Mehmet Okur and Hidayet Turkoglu - who stand in their way in their Group C opener in Palma de Mallorca.

Both nations are ready to put behind them poor showings in the last EuroBasket - with Lithuania having to settle for fifth place (they were after all the defending champions) and Turkey finishing among the 9th-12th sides.

However, both nations enter this tournament having been boosted by big stars making their much-anticipated comebacks to the national team.

Last Time Out: Lithuania and Turkey both qualified for the 2007 EuroBasket by playing at the 2006 FIBA World Championship inJapan.

		Mehmet Okur could be a tough matchup for Lithuania

Key Match-up: Lithuanian power forward Darius Songaila could have a huge game. Turkey's NBA star center Okur often drifts outside and, without excellent rebounder Mirsad Turkcan down low, the Turks are a bit weak in the blocks as Turkoglu, who may be a solid rebounder, is more of an outside player. That leaves a combination of Kaya Peker and Kerem Gonlum in the post to take care of the rebounding duties. Songalia may, however, find himself helping Lithuanian centers defensively to step out and guard Okur, who has excellent shooting range.

Statistics: Nine ... that's the highest number of rebounds any Turkish player has grabbed in their last four warm-up matches for the EuroBasket. Turkcan averaged 9.2 rebounds during the 2006-07 Euroleague campaign for Fenerbahce and 10.2 in theTurkish league.

X-Factor: It's been three summers since Lithuanian fans have seen Jasikevicius don the national team colours. "Saras" faces plenty of expectations after so many great performances during the first half of this decade. But he has struggled to get much playing time in the NBA and will have to rediscover his role in a team forced to play without him for the past three years. How will the team react in tight situations with a new face in the mix? And will that "newcomer" still be calling for the ball for the big shots after so much time away from such situations?

What It Means: The winners can feel very good about their chances of advancing to the qualifying round while the losers mustbattle back from a major letdown quickly as neither Germany and Czech Republic will hesitate to take advantage of weakened opponents.