By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – Germany did what they couldn’t do even with Dirk Nowitzki on their roster.
The amazing duo of Dennis Schroder (28 p.) and Franz Wagner (19 p.) led their team to the FIBA World Cup trophy, completing a perfect tournament without any defeat.
The final score against Serbia was 82-77 as Germany even broke the recent “curse” of the teams losing in the World Cup after beating the USA since they got NBA players in their roster.
In the past, only Serbia did beat the USA and won the trophy in 2002. The Germans this time did it in the semifinal and they went on to win the trophy.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had 17 points which was not enough, while Aleksa Avramovich was the top scorer of Serbia with 21 points. Ognen Dobric played only two minutes in the game, after leaving injured.
A battle from wire to wire
The game was a dogfight from the first second, with Serbia 26-23 after the first period, building a four-point cushion (42-38) but Germany getting the lead (43-42) with 2,5 minutes left for the end of the first half.
However, after two free throws by Bogdanovic, the score was all tied at 47 after 20 minutes of action. The Serb guard had already 15 points, while Schroder and Franz Wagner got 14 points each for Germany.
However, at the start of the second half, it was time for Germany to get an 11-point lead (64-53) with Schroder taking things into his own hands and scoring eight points, for a total of 23 up to that point.
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Serbia tried to react, but Franz Wagner with a three made it a 12-point game (67-55), and the two teams entered the last period with Germany leading 69-57.
By tooth and claw, Serbia managed to trim the lead to four (73-69) after a three by Avramovic, but Johannes Voightmann answered back with a three (76-69) for a personal total of 12 crucial points.
Serbia didn’t back down and again with three free throws by Avramovic made it a three-point game (78-75) with 1.21 minutes left.
Isaac Bonga lost the ball, Marko Guduric missed an open three and then Schroder made 1/2 free throws (79-75) with 48 seconds on the clock.
Guduric got fouled in the next possession and made his free throws (79-77). With the game on the line, Dennis Schroder made the layup and created a four-point lead (81-77) with 21.4 seconds remaining. Avramovic couldn’t score again despite taking a three and the game was decided.
PHOTO CREDIT: FIBA