All smiles for Benzing and company, as Germany stop Serbia at home

FRANKFURT (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - A strong fourth-quarter performance saw Germany nip Serbia 79-74 in a battle of two previously undefeated sides in Group G to move to 3-0 in front of a sold-out Frankfurt Arena on Friday.

Robin Benzing led the victors with 17 points and Isaiah Hartenstein added 11, while Miroslav Raduljica needed just 16 minutes to tally a game-high 22 points for Serbia.

Turning point: The host used a Joshiko Saibou-inspired 10-0 run in the final quarter to swing the scales around, transforming a 62-57 deficit with 8:41 remaining on the game clock into a 67-62 lead in a span of 90 seconds.

Game hero: No player logged more than 24 minutes for Germany, but team captain Robin Benzing proved worthy of his title by bringing the big numbers with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Stats don't lie: Serbia had six players from the second unit get on the board in the game, but Germany's bench went for quality-over-quantity approach and outscored their counterparts 41-29, with 19-year-old Hartenstein leading the way with an 11-point contribution.

Bottom line: Keeping a perfect record brought Germany closer to securing one of the three spots in the standings, while Serbia might need to work harder than anticipated to hold off potential challenges from Georgia and Austria after dropping to 2-1.

They said: "Both teams tried to beat each other with the same strategy. We played hard to get them out of their plays. They played hard to get us out of our plays. I think both somewhat succeeded in at least putting player in foul trouble. It was incredibly hard to guard Miroslav Raduljica and it was pivotal for us that he was in foul trouble and couldn't play more minutes. The same goes for our bigs, like Danilo Barthel. The lineups were a little bit messed up in some situations for both teams. And I'm just very proud of how we came together." – Germany head coach Hendrik Rodl.

"Congratulations to the winning team and coach Rodl. They played a tough game, a physical game. It was a men's game, like we like to say. On the other side, missing 14 free-throws in the second half was something put a cross on our game. It was down to a little bit of tension, down to it being an important game for some of the players. I believe we played with our heart; our team showed character which I'm really proud of." – Serbia head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic.

FIBA