Serbia, which lost to Spain in the title match two years ago, shook off a slow start to beat Italy 80-68.

Montenegro scored the last five points in overtime to beat Macedonia 70-65 and Georgia routed Belgium 81-59 at the start of the 24-team tournament on Wednesday.

Gasol and his brother Marc, who also plays in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies, dominated inside for Spain. They tied for a game-high seven rebounds each and Marc also had 16 points.

Juan Carlos Navarro added 23 points for Spain.

But Ricky Rubio, the guard signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves, missed all of his five field-goal attempts in 16 minutes of play, with two steals and two turnovers.

Adam Hrycaniuk was the top scorer for Poland with 19, and Szymon Szewczyk added 18.

Poland felt the effects of playing the tournament without big man Marcin Gortat, as Spain was able to force fouls underneath the basket early and often.

Szewczyk and Hrycaniuk committed two fouls each inside the first five minutes. Szewcyk’s third foul less than 90 seconds later sent him to the bench until late in the second quarter.

Poland’s last lead of the game came at 5-4, but aggressive play helped them outscore the defending champs in both quarters of the second half. They twice managed to get within five points in the fourth quarter — at 70-65 and 74-69 — and ultimately got to within two after seven consecutive points by Lukas Koszarek and two free throws by Thomas Kelati made it 80-78 with 26 seconds to play.

Spain was able to clamp down on defense thereafter, drawing enough fouls to safely finish off the victory.

Guards Milos Teodosic and Milenko Tepic scored 15 points each to help Serbia beat Italy. Milan Macvan added 14 off the bench.

Italy’s Andrea Bargnani, the Toronto Raptors center, led all scorers with 22 points and Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets added 15.

Serbia did not lead until late in the second quarter but then pulled away mainly thanks to its substitutes, with 10 points coming from Macvan in that stretch.

Midway into the third, the Serbs were up by 18. But Italy cut the deficit to eight on two free throws by Marco Belinelli and Andrea Bargnani then scored four straight points to bring Italy to within four.

Italy’s 17-3 run, with Bargnani and Marco Belinelli contributing 13 of the points between them, left Serbia with a 57-53 lead at the end of the third.

A dunk by Nenad Krstic made it a 10-point game again, and Marko Keselj sank a 3-pointer with 7:23 remaining as Serbia pulled away for good.

Teodosic finished with eight assists and Macvan also grabbed eight rebounds.

Vladimir Dasic scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds to lead Montenegro over Macedonia. Vladimir Dragicevic added 12 points.

Goran Jeretin’s two free throws broke a 65-65 deadlock in overtime, and Dasic’s layup made it 69-65 before center Nikola Pekovic converted one of two free throws to secure victory. Pekovic had nine rebounds.

Bo McCalebb, a naturalized American, had 17 points for Macedonia. Center Predrag Samardziski added 11 rebounds.

Georgia captain Zaza Pachulia, of the Atlanta Hawks, had 16 points against the overmatched Belgians.