MIES (Switzerland) - Victor Wembanyama and France survived a frantic final 11 seconds to edge Nikola Jokic and Serbia, 91-90, on Sunday night.
Jaylen Hoard's fast-break lay-up to beat the buzzer clinched victory for Les Bleus, who bounced back from a 90-87 defeat in Belgrade just a few days earlier.
Marko Guduric scored on a drive with just 4.7 seconds remaining to put Serbia on top and seemingly in a winning position, but France inbounded the ball to their fourth-quarter hero Sylvain Francisco and he took a few dribbles before passing to Hoard at mid-court.
Instead of rushing his shot, Hoard took the ball all the way to the hoop and laid the ball up and in for the victory.
The win spoiled the night for Jokic, who was even more impactful than his master-class in Belgrade. Both teams now have had strong competition before they play their upcoming games in the European Qualifiers for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, with the Second Round starting on Thursday.
The story of the game
France could not have asked for a better beginning to the game, with Wembanyama a menace in the paint and scoring with alley-oop dunks.
His teammates were also in fine form from 3-point range, knocking down 5 of 8. The French defense was active, making it tough for Serbia to execute when they had possession.
Francisco became an immediate problem for Serbia with his ability to knock down jumpers and also drive, and the addition of Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot to the team after he missed the opener was significant as he brought fresh impetus to both ends of the floor.
Luwawu-Cabarrot drilled a 3 and had a hot inside the arc immediately after entering the game.
With a loud and relentless crowd backing France in Orleans, it appeared they might coast to victory after moving ahead with a commanding 54-35 advantage by half-time.
Jokic, who had 14 points at half-time, put Serbia on his back. He began the second half with two 3-point plays and then Nikola Djurisic followed suit with one as well.
Serbia closed the gap to 68-62 at the end of the third quarter and had the momentum.
At the start of the fourth, the visitors finally started knocking down 3-pointers. Nikola Jovic hit the first and then Ognjen Dorbric nailed a second from the left corner to tie the game at 68-68.
After Matthew Strazel scored on a difficult drive for France, Nemanja Dangubic struck from deep for a 71-70 Serbia advantage.
Two Jovic free-throws stretched the lead, and after a Wembanyama layup, Jovic buried another 3-ball for a 76-72 lead.
Francisco came to the rescue for France.
He re-entered the game and buried a 3, and followed that with a 3-point play before feeding Rudy Gobert on an alley-oop dunk.
Gobert then hustled down the floor and scored with a put-back on a fast break and France led 82-76.
Serbia refused to give in.
After two Wembanyama free-throws, Jokic went to 31 points with a pair of his own after a foul by Luwawu-Cabarrot.
Serbia got a stop and Luwawu-Cabarrot again was called for a foul on Jokic beyond the arc but Jokic made just one of the two to cut the France lead to 89-86.
But France survived, getting the Hoard heroics after Guduric had put Serbia in front.
The player of the game
Jokic did not win but he had the best performance of any player, carrying his team back from a huge deficit and doing it in a myriad of ways. 34 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists for him.
Francisco was immense for France, pouring in a team-high 20 points and scoring many when the game hung in the balance. Luwawu-Cabarrot contributed 19 scintillating points.
Wembanyama had 18 points, most of them from dunks and free-throws, to nearly double his output from the first meeting and also had a couple of blocks.
The stats of the game
Both teams finished with 9 3-pointers but the big difference was France's ability to get to the free-throw line, where they made 26 of 36 (72.2%) compared to Serbia's 17 of 23 (73.9%).
France were undone by 22 turnovers in the first game but finished with 9.
The takeaways from the game
Jokic did yeoman's work for Serbia and his teammates fed off that energy in the second half, bringing back memories of their huge come-from-behind win over Australia in the Olympic Quarter-Finals.
With him in their lineup, they will be favored to win their games against Iceland and Italy in the fourth window.
For France, Wembanyama can do so many things and on Sunday night his length and size, particularly in the first half, helped his team build a big advantage.
While it will be worrying for the team that it gave up a big lead, the excellent play by Francisco and timely contributions from so many players will be a big boost for the team as it heads into fourth window games against Slovenia and Sweden.
FIBA