Dennis Schroeder and the rest of Germany survived a big scare in the endgame to escape with a thrilling 81-79 victory over the hard-fighting Latvian squad in the FIBA World Cup Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Schroeder, the veteran guard from the National Basketball Association, presided on offense in the crucial stretch as he hit five straight points to quell an uprising by Latvia, which refused to fold up until the end.
Back-to-back baskets from Artuz Zagars put Latvia within striking distance, 79-81, with still 33 seconds in the game.
Germany put the game in the hands of Schroeder, the star point guard of the Toronto Raptors, just as expected, and the spitfire missed a floater, but with no timeout left, Latvia had to rush to the other end and Davis Bertans’ trey from about 25 feet, just hit the back iron as time expired.
With the win, Germany will advance to the Final Four where it faces the United States on Friday.
Germany went to Schroeder, who scored nine points, when the game was on the line, but it was the Wagner Brothers — Franz and Moritz Wagner — who did most of the damage in the early goings as they combined for 28 points and 12 boards.
The Wagner Brothers, who were also teammates at the Orlando Magic in the NBA, used their size advantage to the hilt against their counterparts.
But Germany also drew solid games from Andres Obst and Johaness Theismann.
Germany’s firepower advantage was at full display.
The Germans outscored their rivals, 44-6, from points coming off the bench.
Germany also had more inside scoring, 36-28.
