“Madness Wagner” surpassed
Overtime thriller puts the DBB team on course for the round of 16
9/4/2022 4:59 p.m
The German basketball team’s dream of a medal is alive: A highly dramatic overtime thriller against Lithuania ends with the third win in the third European Championship game. The round of 16 can only theoretically be taken away from them. Above all, the just 21-year-old Franz Wagner convinced.
Berlin is calling, “madness Wagner” fuels the dream of a medal: After a highly dramatic overtime thriller, the German basketball players can plan for the round of 16 of the European Championships at home. Led by the strong NBA shooting star Franz Wagner, who scored 32 points, the national team defeated the strong Lithuanians in the green and yellow cauldron of Cologne with 109:107 (89:89, 46:41) after double overtime.
“We felt resistance here and there. But Lithuania is a good team. They can play really well. We had to fight our way through. We played well as a team,” said national coach Gordon Herbert at MagentaSport. Meanwhile, Wagner received extra praise: “It’s hard to believe that he’s only 21 years old.” Wagner said: “It was definitely wild, but it was really cool. The atmosphere is awesome here. The fact that we came back like this: Games like this are still a little bit hotter.”
A small shadow hangs over the drama victory as Lithuania lodged a protest against the game classification, confirmed coach Kazys Maksvytis. The Lithuanians criticized that they had not been awarded an additional free throw after a technical foul against the German bench. The European federation will now deal with the protest. Herbert admitted that he only noticed the officials’ faux pas a few seconds before the end of the game. The one point the still-winless Lithuanians could have made from the free-throw in regular time could have been game-changing in the hard-fought thriller. But instead of a party in green, there was the next home win in front of a euphoric German audience.
Wagner in the Lanxess Arena best German scorer. Jonas Valanciunas scored 34 points for the visitors. Due to the third success in the third group game, the Germans in the “hammer group” B can only theoretically be deprived of the ticket for the final round in the capital (from September 10th). Should underdog Hungary lose against France on Sunday evening (8.30 p.m.) as expected, Germany would certainly be in the next round.
Battle for group victory
So on Tuesday (8.30 p.m. / MagentaSport and in the ntv.de live ticker) against European champion Slovenia about NBA superstar Luka Doncic it is probably about the preliminary decision in the fight for group victory. A good placement is important in order to avoid Spain and Turkey in the round of 16 if possible. After the convincing successes against France, Bosnia-Herzegovina and now Lithuania, the Germans continue to dream of their third European Championship medal after gold in 1993 and silver in 2005.
The home advantage against the Lithuanians, who were under massive pressure after two opening bankruptcies, was not as great as before: Once again, several thousand hot-blooded fans in green and yellow supported the three-time European champions and mercilessly booed the Germans at the team presentation. And saw an open exchange of blows from the beginning, in which Germany was carried by Maodo Lo after a few unfocused minutes.
The Berliner, who came off the bench for Schröder, repeatedly pushed for the basket at lightning speed and was always dangerous from beyond the three-point line. While the defense got better access, the offense also delivered reliably, which was guided by Wagner, who played like unleashed. The Orlando Magic professional, who scored 18 points in the first round, made two spectacular saves from outside and made a significant contribution to the half-time lead.
Germany stays tuned – and passes
Germany continued to score reliably after the break, but Lithuania kept getting stronger – also because the Germans got into foul problems. In particular, NBA professional Valanciunas was very difficult to control under the basket, and the Lithuanian three fell better. The momentum threatened to tip over several times, Schröder and Co. saved a point lead in the final quarter.
There Wagner came up trumps again, hitting a three to make it 76:72 before Lithuania fought its way into overtime in a wild final phase. In overtime, the Lithuanians quickly drew back to three points, but Germany always stayed close and equalized 30 seconds before the end with an “And One” from Schröder (96:96). In the second overtime, too, the captain kept his nerve and scored a three-pointer to make it 101:96. Lo put the lid on with two goals “from downtown” in the final two minutes.