04.09.2011

Serbia Beat Germany For Fourth Win

Turning Point: Germany tried to claw back an early 9-0 deficit and scored seven unanswered points but Serbia then went on an 8-0 run and had their noses in front the rest of the way.

Game Hero: Milos Teodosic once again showed he is one of the top point guards in the world with his scoring, his ability to create opportunities for teammates and his willingness to crash the boards. He finished with 12 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, a truly sensational effort in 28 minutes.

Stats Don't Lie: Serbia out-rebounded Germany 40-31 and executed to near perfection, scoring 28 of their points in the paint compared with just 18 for Germany.

Serbia claimed another important scalp at the EuroBasket on Sunday by winning convincingly over Germany in Siauliai.

The 75-64 triumph gave the Serbians their fourth win in the competition and set up a tantalizing battle with unbeaten France on Monday to determine first place in the Group B.

Dusko Savanovic led Serbia once again in scoring with 18 points while the remarkable Milos Teodosic went very close to a triple-double.

Arguably the best point guard in Europe, Teodosic walked off the court with 12 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.

The playmaker was in such great control that he turned the ball over just once in the game.

Serbia stormed into a 9-0 lead and after Germany had seven unanswered points in reply, Teodosic and Co pulled away again with an 8-0 run.

After taking a 38-28 lead to the half, by which time the brilliant Teodosic had scored five points and handed out seven assists and claimed six rebounds, Serbia stretched their advantage to 16 points in the third quarter.

Nowitzki led a spirited comeback, scoring to cut the Serbia lead to 62-49 with 6:18 to play.

He soon after reeled off six straight points to reduce the deficit to 62-56 with 3:31 to play.

With Serbia trying to cut off the NBA superstar Nowitzki, Steffen Hamann buried a three-ball to close the gap to 64-59 and then answered a Teodosic basket with a drive and left-handed lay-up.

Savanovic sucked the life out of the German comeback, though, with a three-pointer and Serbia held on.

Savanovic didn't miss from behind the arc with his four attempts.

"I just thought that the way we came out was not acceptable," Germany coach Dirk Bauermann said.

"If you fall behind against such a great team, it's very difficult to win the game, almost impossible because they just know how to control the game.

"They just have so many weapons that play together well that it makes it extremely difficult, once you fall behind nine, 10, 11 points, to come back."

Nenad Krstic also helped Serbia underline their status as one of the teams to beat with 15 points and Milenko Tepic scored eight while also corralled six boards.

Milan Macvan started and had the tough assignment of guarding Germany's Dirk Nowitzki.

Macvan had nine rebounds to go with his five points while Nowitzki remained as potent as ever with a game-high 25 points but it was nowhere near enough.

Bauermann also had warm words for Serbia coach Dusan Ivkovic.

"Ever since I was a young coach, coaching juniors, he's been one of my idols," Bauermann said.

04.09.2011

Quotes Germany vs. Serbia

Germany Head Coach Dirk Bauermann:
"The way we came out to play is not acceptable. When you fall behind to this team it is so hard to come back: they just know how to use a variety of weapons they have and they control the rhythm of the game really well. We are very happy to go to another round also."

Germany Point Guard Heiko Schaffartzik:
"We needed to show our A game for a chance to win tonight, but we were just unable to do this tonight. The only good thing was that we fought back after falling behind."

Serbia Head Coach Dusan Ivkovic:
"I think it was the best game of my team so far. Aggressive start and intensive defense helped us to control the rhythm of the game. Our target is quarter final so every point is very important for us."

Serbia Forward Milan Macvan:
"We played a really good game tonight, and we will do everything to prepare for a very important game tomorrow against France."