CHN/GER – China comeback secures 7th place

HAMBURG (FIBA U17 World Championship) – Hosts Germany had the chance to win its last game in front of their home crowd, but did not display enough presence of mind to ultimately steal the win from China.

In most games Besnik Bekteshi (23 points) had a hot shooting hand right away from the start.

That would not change in this contest either, as the guard stroke from deep to go along with a running scoop to score Germany's first five points in the opening quarter (5-5, 7min).

With Bekteshi getting some rest after his blazing start, the hosts' offense kept rolling on (12-14, 10min).

Germany got its rhythm going early, initiating a 9-2 run for the 14-23 lead. China's backcourt players, especially Guo Ailun (23 points), did not create enough space on effense to start a counter-attack and fell behind by double-digits until halftime (19-34, 20min):

The Asian team came out of the gates rejuvenated, sporting a 17-2 run, thanks to an agile zone defense (36-39, 28min).

The games was close going into the final stanza (48-48, 33min), but China once again made a push to go ahead. One rare four point-play by Bekteshi let Germany's hopes rise high (63-58, 38min).

Little later Julius Wolf finished at the rim, followed ba another Bekteshi layer (65-64).

With 4.1 seconds to play Germany sent Pu Wang to the line, where the forward missed on both of his free throws. Paul Albrecht got a hand on the rebound, but his outlet-pass was aimed badly and landed in the stands.

Quotes

Frank Menz, Germany head coach: "We didn't get the win we would have derserved for the hard fights we put in. We missed dunks and layups in the end. China looked very tired, but we were still unable to win it in the end."

Bin Fan, China head coach: "Both teams played a good game. The Germans came in with a good strategy, and we lost many rebounds. I have to credit them for their excellent defense. We didn't play a very good first half, but I am happy my players responded to my instructions in the second."

Anselm Hartman, Germany captain and number 4: "We started well and were the better team in the first half. In the second we didn't execute our instructions well enough. We were not lucky enough in the end and lost by just one point."

Guo Ailun, China number 7: "I am very proud to be in this team fighting for every ball, our coach prepared a good strategy. We worked well for two years and especially since last year's FIBA Asia U16. I am proud we didn't give up after trailing by 18 points. In the beginning we did not do well in executing our strategy, but he (Bin Fan, China head coach) adjusted it and we responded well. We regained our focus on every ball."

FIBA