The German basketball players are making their presence felt: Led by Robin Benzing and Justus Hollatz, Gordon Herbert’s team manages a deserved away win in Israel.
The German basketball players celebrated their second victory in the World Cup qualifiers. Coach Gordon Herbert’s team won 71-67 (35-33) at the previously unbeaten Israel team on Friday, even without his players from the NBA and the Euroleague. The German Basketball Federation selection thus took a big step towards the second group stage of the elimination round for the 2023 World Cup. Germany had previously lost to Estonia and won in Poland.
The best German scorer in this thriller was the late captain Robin Benzing with 17 points – including the decisive three-pointer – closely followed by Hamburg’s youngster Justus Hollatz (16), who enraptured the crowd in the final phase with some fantastically converted distance shots. Bamberg’s Chris Sengfelder, who had secured the slim lead at the break, scored eleven points.
Interim eleven points behind
The German team was not discouraged even by an interim eleven-point deficit. At the beginning of the final quarter, Israel pulled away briefly, but two three-pointers by Hamburg’s second debutant Robin Christen and captain Benzing brought Germany back.
Benzing, by the way, summed it up after the game on “MagentaSport”: “Congratulations to the boys. But it’s only about one thing at the moment: end this war.” National coach Herbert also made it clear that it was not easy to play basketball these days. “We’ve all seen the pictures on TV,” the Canadian said. “But respect to my boys. They left their heart on the floor. “
Reunion in Heidelberg
On Monday (7.30 pm/TV: Magenta Sport) the second duel between the two teams will take place in Heidelberg. Then the two Berliners Maodo Lo and Johannes Thiemann and perhaps Bayern Munich’s Andreas Obst should also be there. However, the Israelis will most likely come to Germany with some players from the Euroleague. Among others, Alba’s Tamir Blatt will be there. Next year’s World Cup will take place in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
After the first group phase, three nations per season will be in the running for a place in the World Cup. They will form a new group with three teams from Group C, including European champions Slovenia, and will have to finish at least third. If the Germans had lost both duels with Israel, only one other team would have been allowed to be better in the second qualification phase.
