Lithuania made it four wins from four by beating Italy 79-74 in the qualifying round of the European championship on Saturday.
Shooting guard Rimantas Kaukenas scored a game-high 22 points, with 31-year-old Sarunas Jasikevicius adding 13 points.
The 2003 winners Lithuania squandered an 11-point advantage early on.
Toronto Raptors youngster Andrea Bargnani made 15 points and seven rebounds, the best for Italy.
Slovenia joined Lithuania at the top of Group F after seeing off Turkey 66-51. They ran away at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, outscoring the Turks 21-1, with Uros Slokar coming off the bench to score 12 points in 19 minutes.
Tony Parker and France proved too strong for Dirk Nowitzki and Germany, pulling away to a 78-66 win in the same group that leaves the 2005 silver medallists struggling in fourth place.
Tournament top scorer Nowitzki notched a game-high 28 points and hauled down six rebounds but it was not enough to derail third-placed France.
Parker, the Most Valuable Player from the NBA Finals last season, top scored for France with 23 points and added three assists and four rebounds.
Four of the six teams in the group will progress to the quarter-finals.
Source: Xinhua
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