Wagner helps Germany end 13-year-long Olympic drought / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Media Credit FIBA Media

Moe Wagner's stellar game propelled Germany to victory over Brazil by 75-64 (14-17, 22-17, 16-12, 23-18) in the final of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Split, Croatia. Henrik Rodl's men will represent their country in the Tokyo Olympic Games for the first time in 13 years.

Player of the Game EFF 25 Moritz Wagner Points 28 Accuracy 9-12 Rebounds 6 Assists 1

Germany's last trip to the Olympics was back in 2008 when they finished third in a similar tournament in Athens. Brazil, the only non-European team to reach the final game across all four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments this summer, faced severe offensive issues in the final.

As it turned out, the fact that Brazil hadn't played a close game in contrast to coach Henrik Rodl's men - who won three close games - made the difference in the crucial moments of the second half.

The Orlando Magic's forward Moritz Wagner scored 28 points on 9 for 12 field goals, which were more than enough to give his team a double-digit lead in the third quarter and pave the way to the win. Robin Benzing poured in 13 points in 17 minutes, Maodo Lo added 10 (going 3 for 12 from the field), while Johannes Voigtman amassed 8 points and 11 rebounds.

Brazil tried to rely on Vitor Benite, but failed miserably. The guard of San Pablo Burgos went 3 for 18 from the field and had a rather negative impact on his team's output. Anderson Varejao, in one of his career-last tournaments, made 14 on impeccable shooting (7 for 7), Alex Garcia contributed 10.

Overall, both teams struggled from behind the arc, finishing with a total of 16 for 56. Containing Benite and Marcelinho Huertas were huge for the Germans, as practically Petrovic's squad ran out of alternatives when the game took a bad turn in the third quarter.

Approaching the finish line, Germany managed to buy some time by grabbing offensive rebounds, at a point where both teams were dealing with a severe blackout, going scoreless for several minutes. Adding injury to insult, Alex Garcia got expelled with his 5th foul, and Voigtman gladly took the chance for a fierce dunk to make it 64-56 for Germany.

Brazil, save Benite's hero ball, showed no signs of a comeback. On the contrary, a big three-pointer by Obst (70-59) gave Rodl every right to celebrate, even though the Brazilians were fighting to stay alive. It was a doomed effort, despite them having been the dominant side over the past week on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. As chance would have it, defeating Tunisia by 26, Croatia by 27 and Mexico by 28 was not followed by a win by 29 against the hard-nosed German squad.

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