By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was one of the most competitive friendly games on the way to the Eurobasket. Eventally Croatia prevailed 74-72 over Germany in overtime. Dirk Nowitzki returned to his beloved national team and played 24 minutes. The German super star scored 11 points and grabbed 6 rebounds on 3/9 FG.
The game was balanced in the first period. Croatia made a 21-13 partial score in the 2nd period, but coach Fleming’s team fought back with a 19-25 run in the third period. In the last minutes both teams tried hard on defense and no one had easy points. Schroder made a turnover (9 in total) in the last possession of Germany and Bojan Bogdanovic missed the chance to make the winning shoot of the game in regulation.
During the overtime Marko Tomas and Luka Zoric produced crucial plays for Croatia and led their team to the victory. Dario Saric finished with a double – double (18p., 10r.) and Bogdanovic added 15 points. For Germany three players scored in double digits, with Zirbes being the leading scorer with 14 points.