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| Germany finally takes home the FIBA World Cup championship. Kennelf Monteza |
PASAY—Unscatched. Undefeated. Undisputed.
Germany banked on once again to Dennis Schroder’s sterling game to beat Serbia in an 83-77 championship-nailing victory, completing a historic FIBA World Cup sweep on Sunday, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Schroder paced the Deutschland after exploding for 28 points including the last five points for Germany that ended the title hopes for their European rival Serbia en route to the country’s first Naismith trophy.
The 29-year-old NBA guard was also hailed as the Tissot MVP after averaging 19.1 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in the three-week-long tournament.
After a neck-to-neck first half that ended at 47-all, Germany tightened up their game on both ends of the floor in the third quarter as the Die Mannschaft forced a string of turnovers and limited the Serbians on an 11-point salvo that gave them the breathing room that they need come the final quarter, 69-57.
Refusing to surrender, Aleksa Avramovic managed to put Serbia back on the game after scoring 16 of his 25-point total in the fourth quarter that included a scintillating 11 straight made shots that trimmed the Germans lead down to single-possession, 78-75.
But then Schroder yet again answered the call for Germany in the end game as he delivered the game-sealing lay-up to extend their lead back to four, 81-77 with only 21.4 seconds left in the game.
Franz Wagner also had a solid night for the Deutschland, finishing with 19 points across his name.
Germany completed an 8-0 tournament sweep, with them becoming the fifth consecutive tournament champions to go unbeaten. This was also the country’s first podium finish after bagging the bronze medal at the 2002 edition of the Games at Indianapolis.
The Gordie Herbert-headed team swept the opening rounds with ease, defeating powerhouse Australia, Finland, and host country Japan in the first round for a 3-0 card and then capping their elimination campaign with wins versus Georgia and Luka Doncic-led Slovenia in the second round.
They went on to face the gritty Lithuania squad in the quarterfinals before pulling off the upset of the tournament against the favored Team USA in the semifinals last Friday.
Serbia’s top gunner Bogdan Bogdanovic capped his third World Cup stint with a 17-point performance.
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