TURIN (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - Michael Roll and Tunisia had hoped for better in their opening night game against Italy at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Turin but a nightmare third quarter proved to be their undoing in a 68-41 win for the host nation.

Tunisia, forced to play without star Salah Mejri after the Dallas Mavericks center elected to undergo knee surgery, also lost Makram Ben Romdhane to a sprained ankle on Sunday. Another player in the Tunisia side that finished third at last year's AfroBasket, Mohamed Hadidane, was also unavailable for the tournament.

"Croatia are also a good team. We did a good job in the first half (against Italy) so we'll go back, see the film and what we did well. Me personally, I have to play much better." - Roll

The visitors nevertheless controlled the tempo and only trailed 29-27 in the waning seconds of the first half before Marco Belinelli drilled a 3-pointer for an Italian lead of five at the break. The Azzurri then blew their opponents away in the third quarter, outscoring them 22-2 en route to a big victory.

"Obviously, they're a much more talented team so we just wanted to come out and play as hard as possible," Roll said to FIBA.com. "We tried to slow down the game, which we did in the first half. We played at our tempo, but we weren't making our shots. They did a good job of scouting us, disrupting our rhythm and our game plan. In the third quarter, they just turned it on. They're a very good team, so hats off to them, they had a very good game plan and played well."

The Tunisians were the first Group A side to get a taste of playing Italy on their home floor at the PalaOlimpico. The arena was loud, although Roll and Co coped with the hostile atmosphere well in the first 20 minutes.

Roll, who played college basketball at UCLA and has fought in big-game atmospheres during his time as a player in Europe, was not uncomfortable with the environment.

"I've done it, but I can't say everyone else in the team has," he said. "But at the AfroBasket last year, we had a huge gym like this so that was probably the closest thing they've had to it. Italy are the home team so obviously they're going to have a huge advantage with the crowd behind them."

It will help Tunisia if Ben Romhdane is able to play on Wednesday against Croatia. That is the hope of head coach Adel Tlatli and Roll. Mejri would have been a huge asset as a rim-protector on defense but Tunisia must get by without the most famous player in the country's basketball history.

"It's unfortunate that Makram got hurt on Sunday, spraining his ankle," Roll said. "He's a huge part of our offense. He and I are kind of the main attackers out there and we just had to adjust on the fly. Some guys were playing out of position so, it's unfortunate. Hopefully we'll get Makram back. We miss Salah but he has to take care of what he has to, hopefully he gets healthy for himself and we'll do our best."

While it will not get any easier for Tunisia on Wednesday, at least Tlatli's team can watch their opponents' face Italy on Tuesday and then hopefully be ready when they next run onto the court.

"Croatia are also a good team," Roll said. "We did a good job in the first half (against Italy) so we'll go back, see the film and what we did well. Me personally, I have to play much better.

"Maybe we can do more things to free me up because I'm getting a lot of attention out there. Wherever I go, there seems to be a double-team, so we're going to learn from it and hopefully play better on Wednesday."

FIBA