(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-09-05 11:58

MADRID - Dimosthenis Ntikoudis fired holders Greece to a nail-biting 68-67 extra-time victory over Serbia at the European Championship on Tuesday.

Greece looked to have opened up a winning margin with two seconds left in normal time when Serbia's Milan Gurovic sank a spectacular three-pointer to level the scores at 56 apiece.

Panathinaikos forward Ntikoudis steered Greece home with a game-high 20 points, landing a crucial jump-shot from outside the arc with 40 seconds to go in extra time, leaving the Serbs with four points to make up.

The victory put Greece into the second phase along with Russia from Group A after both registered 100 percent records. Russia thrashed Israel 90-56 earlier on Tuesday.

The top three sides from the four sections enter a second phase of two groups of six.

In Group B, world champions Spain made sure of their place in the last 12 with a 93-77 win over Latvia that was tougher than the scoreline suggests.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Pau Gasol was top scorer for Spain again with 26 points and nine rebounds.

"It was a difficult game today but when you win those kinds of matches the satisfaction is greater," Spain coach Pepu Hernandez said.

Italy suffered a second consecutive defeat in Group D losing 69-62 in a tight tussle with France.

Carlo Recalcati's side, gold medallists in 1999 and 1983, looked to have recovered well from their defeat at the buzzer by Slovenia on Monday, leading by five points at the midway point.

But France struck back in the third quarter with San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker leading the way.

The first European to win the MVP award in the NBA finals last season notched up a game high 36 points, but played down the importance of his contribution.

"I felt I had to be aggressive," said Parker. "Every game is going to be different and I don't think I need to score 30 points every time because the French team is better than that.

"We have to improve on our offensive play but as long as our defence works we can win games."

France's second win puts them in the next phase with Slovenia, but Italy must beat winless Poland on Wednesday to avoid a surprise early exit.

After Monday's extra-time victory over Czech Republic in Group C, 2005 silver medallists Germany made sure of reaching the next stage with a thumping 79-49 win over Turkey.

Joining them with two wins from two are 2003 gold medallists Lithuania who made short work of the Czechs 95-75.