Marco Cusin was the unsung hero of Italy’s win over Israel in the Eurobasket 2017 first day, conquered by holding the opponent to 48 points and crushing it under a 21-point margin. Cusin played just 16 minutes but he kept the defense together, blocked two shots, made a jumper form the corner and a dunk. With him on the court, Italy outscored Israel by 21 points. With him sitting on the bench the game was tied. Andrea Cinciarini and Awudu Abass didn’t play untile the last few seconds.

Italy is going to play again on Saturday against Ukraine and on Sunday against Lithuania who lost to Georgia by two points in spite of 15 points scored by Mantas Kalnietis. He also had four assists in almost 33 minutes of playing time.

Today, Dairis Bartans’ Latvia will face a prohibitive game against Serbia.