By REYNALD MAGALLON
Simply unbeatable and untouchable.
Dennis Schroder displayed nerves of steel and took over in crunch time as Germany swept its way to its very first 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup crown with a nerve-wracking 83-77 victory in the final on Sunday, Sept. 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Mannschaft rode on a huge third quarter onslaught before holding off a brave comeback from Serbia with Schroder scoring the last six points for Germany to seal the deal and become the first time world champions.
What made their title win more impressive and sweeter was that they won the 17-day global showpiece via a sweep, winning all their 8 games, topping the group stage with a 5-0 record before taking down Latvia in the quarterfinal and stunning the fancied USA team in the semis.
Schroder exploded for 28 points – none bigger than the gutsy layup with 21.6 seconds left that kept Germany afloat, 81-77 against the furious rally from the Serbians spearheaded by Aleksa Avaramovic.
Embracing his role as the main man for the German squad, Schroder led by example and put a tournament-long brilliance enough for him to bag the tournament MVP citation much to delight of the sold-out 12,022 crowd
Franz Wagner continued his stellar performance in the final phase with 19 points and seven rebounds while Johannes Voightmann chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
Germany created some separation in the third frame when it unloaded a 17-4 closed out that turned a tight 55-53 affair into a 69-57 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest.
Avramovic tried to carry the fight in the final frame, towing Serbia within three, 79-76, before Schroder delivered the killing blows towards the end.
Avramovic led the way for Serbia with 21 points while Bogdan Bogdanovic couldn’t sustain his hot start finishing with only 17 points after being saddled by foul trouble.
Their efforts however went futile in the end as the Eagles couldn’t get the job done with its second bridesmaid finish in the global showpiece, repeating the same heartbreak in 2014 when they lost to Spain.
