By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a do or die match for both teams, Spain survived a late thriller against Germany in Berlin and beat Dirk Nowitzki’s team 76-77 to claim the ticket to the second round, while the Germans didn’t advance to the next round.
Dennis Schroder missed the most important free throw of the game with three seconds to go, after getting fouled and making 2/3, and Germany failed to tie the game. Still they came back from a 12-point deficit (48-60) in the beginning of the last quarter. Pau Gasol grabbed the rebound and the game was over.
Spain’s head coach, Sergio Scariolo, said: “We played a really top-level game for 35 minutes, we held Germany to 61 points but then we probably lost our concentration a little bit especially on defence, which was outstanding up until then.”
For the winners, Gasol was impressive again with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, while three more players were in double figures. For Germany, Shroder was the top scorer with 26 points, having also six rebounds and seven assists.
Three more players were in double figures for the Germans, while Nowitzki, in probably his last performance with the national team, had 10 points and seven rebounds. The crowd of Berlin gave him a standing ovation, as the tournament ended for him and Germany.
“I knew we would play hard, I said that yesterday because the character of this team has been that way. The guys who were here played their heart out and deserve a lot of credit. I would like to also thank my staff who is wonderful,” said Germany’s coach, Chris Fleming.