COLOGNE (Germany) - This is exactly what the Group of Death was expected to give the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 fans: a packed house watching a showdown of two title challengers with great superstars stepping up. In the end, Franz Wagner and hosts Germany prevailed over Jonas Valanciunas and Lithuania in a 109-107 double-overtime thriller.

A packed house of 18,017 watched as Germany improved to 3-0 in Group B while Lithuania face a massive uphill battle to reach the Knockout Phase with three losses.

 
Turning Point: After a back and forth first quarter, Germany twice led by nine points. Lithuania refused to go away and  pulled ahead 72-71 only to see Germany mount an 11-2 spurt to surge ahead 82-75. With Lithuania down by five points with 50 seconds to play, Valanciunas scored the next five points, including a tip-in with seven seconds left to send the game to overtime. Dennis Schroder and Wagner both missed potential game-winning shots at the end of regulation and the first overtime, respectively. In the second overtime Maodo Lo drained back-to-back three-pointers to give Germany the final momentum.  

TCL Player of the Game:  Wagner seems on a mission to get Germany to his home city of Berlin as he did it all for Gordie Herbert's team with 32 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. Wagner is the third German to score 30 or more points in a EuroBasket game in the 21st century along with Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schroder. Valanciunas for his part gave all he could with 34 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Stats Don't Lie: Germany committed only 7 turnovers and took advantage of the Lithuanians' miscues with 16 points off turnovers to 6 for the Baltic side. Lithuania also shot just 28 percent from three-point range.

Bottom Line: Germany have all but booked their spot in the Knockout Phase with a perfect record, and the hosts will try to make it four for four on Tuesday against reigning champions Slovenia, a team they beat 90-71 on August 28 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers. Lithuania have put themselves in a major hole, and the only way out is knocking off Hungary in their next game for their first win.

They said: "Nothing has changed. We have high chemistry. We have a great mixture of players. We stated before: our goal is to medal. Just play one game at a time and get to the podium and enjoy playing in our home country." - Germany coach Gordie Herbert

"Lithuania is a really strong team. Every game so far in this tournament has been different, and today with the ups and downs in the last stretches of the game to come out on top after all of that is definitely a sign of character and togetherness of the team. I’m happy to get this win because I think we deserve to be rewarded for being together." - Maodo Lo, Germany

"It's great to play in an atmosphere like this. I don’t have a question about my guys. They played well, they fought until the end." - Lithuania head coach Kazys Maksvytis

"It was a tough game. They played well. We responded most of the time but not until the end. We were short a little bit, luck, maybe we didn't execute the game plan the best. So we were missing something." - Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania

 
FIBA