Germany emerged victoriously at the Basketball World Cup – FIBA final and wrote their name in the pages of history by beating with a score of Serbia 83-77. The FIBA final indeed witnessed a tremendous fight between the two teams, but in the end, Germany laughed the last laugh. Despite going down 26-23 in the first quarter, the Germans, playing in their first-ever final, refused to be overawed by the occasion.
Inspired by the intensity of Isaac Bonga on both sides of the ball and Toronto Raptor Schroder’s three-point magic, they responded by taking an early four-point lead in the second.
After weathering a rally from Serbia, the teams went into half-time locked at 47-47. The lead had changed hands 15 times by this point, a testament to a high quality, but even contest. With a capacity crowd at fever pitch at the FIBA final, Germany stepped on the gas in the third quarter to open up an 11-point lead when Serbia called a time-out. Showing superior shooting accuracy from the likes of Orlando Magic star Franz Wagner, the Germans extended their lead to 69-57 at the buzzer.
After winning bronze at FIBA EuroBasket 2022, this is the first time in German basketball history that they’ve won major event medals in consecutive years. Predictably, Schroder was awarded the prestigious FIBA World Cup MVP award, finishing with 28 points on the night, including the game-winning shots.
Germany and Serbia have already secured Olympic quotas for Paris 2024 after making the semi-finals as the top two-ranked European teams.
Bonga regarding the FIBA final
Bonga said that It feels crazy; it hasn’t really hit him yet. It’s amazing what they did, he added. It’s a special group, and German basketball is going forward and creating history like this; he thinks this is a stepping stone for the future of German basketball. They have earned the respect of the whole world.
It has really been a moment of joy for Germany to achieve their first-ever title of FIBA. The country has been phenomenal in football and has won multiple World Cups, but it seems like they are not lagging behind in this sport as well. It is really a moment of glory for every player as well as the people of the country, as lifting a World Cup, which includes the teams of so many countries, is never a cupcake.
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