VECHTA (Germany) - Protecting the home court took another meaning with Germany protecting their basket from all French attempts. Henrik Rodl's team claimed an 83-69 win to start the FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Qualifiers.

Vincent Collet's team never looked in full offensive rhythm, even though they had 10 steals and 4 blocks, looking solid on defense for most of the game. But Germany held them to 32 percent shooting, including 12.5 percent from beyond the arc in this one.

Turning Point: Start of the second half. It was a seven-point game after two quarters, but the hosts had a good team talk in the locker room, storming to an 8-0 run at the beginning of the third quarter. France were in chasing mode the rest of the way, not being able to endanger Germany's lead, and allowing them to escape with a 14-point win in the end.

Game Hero: Robin Benzing is the most experienced player of this German squad, and he continued with the same kind of form he has been showing all season long with Casademont Zaragoza. The forward finished with 22 points, knocking down 5-of-10 three-pointers, two more than the entire French team!

Stats Don't Lie: France shot 3-of-24 from beyond the arc. Not even 21 offensive rebounds could help them out with such a clip.

Bottom Line: Germany enjoyed the full house in Vechta, and they are now full of confidence ahead of their trip to Newcastle upon Tyne for the game against Great Britain. France, meanwhile, are in danger of falling to 0-2 with a confident Montenegrin side coming to La Roche-sur-Yon.

FIBA