GER – Big praise for Germany’s Benzing
GDANSK (2009 EuroBasket) - Jan Jagla was the hero of Germany's first EuroBasket win this season with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 76-73 victory over Russia. But the big man preferred to talk about the impact of one of the newcomers to the team, Robin Benzing, whose late three-pointer clinched victory. Russia had trailed by 19 points but ...
GDANSK (2009 EuroBasket) - Jan Jagla was the hero of Germany's first EuroBasket win this season with 19 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 76-73 victory over Russia.
But the big man preferred to talk about the impact of one of the newcomers to the team, Robin Benzing, whose late three-pointer clinched victory.
Russia had trailed by 19 points but closed the gap to just two with 1:14 remaining after Kelly McCarty split two free-throws. Benzing went to the other end buried a three-ball with 48 seconds to play that sealed the win.
"I mean for a 20-year-old to step up and hit that shot ... unbelievable," said Jagla, who had fouled out and had to watch Benzing's shot from the bench.
"Of course it's tough being on the bench, especially in a game like that.
"But we have a great bunch of guys. Our biggest strength this summer is that we've been playing well collectively."
Germany will be looking to defeat Latvia to advance to the Qualifying Round and maintain their hope of reaching the 2010 FIBA World Championship.
FIBA