Nicolas Batum (L) and Vincent Poirier of France defend Niels Giffey (C) of Germany during the group G match between France and Germany at the FIBA World Cup 2019 in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong province, on Sept. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Yang Lei)
SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Orlando Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier's super performance helped France beat Germany 78-74 in a Group G encounter at the FIBA basketball World Cup here on Sunday.
Fournier earned a game-high 26 points and contributed 10 rebounds. Amath M'Baye added 21 points. Germany's Johannes Voigtmann made 25 points including five 3-pointers.
France showed a near perfection defense with a 14-0 run at the beginning of the game, while Germany missed all 14 attempts inside the arc, trailing by 4-16 as the quarter time ran out.
"We feel a little nervous in the start. France did well in defense and we missed a lot of shooting," said Voigtmann.
Germany found their rhythm in attacking in the second quarter as Voigtmann and Dennis Schroder combined 12 points. France put Fournier and Rudy Gobert on court and went on to build a 36-20 advantage into the halftime.
In the third quarter, Germany didn't miss any of their six 3-pointers, while France showed no sign of slowing down in offense side by scoring 23 points during the single quarter, leading 59-50 at the end of the quarter.
Fournier hit a pair of free throws, leading France 78-74 with 4.2 seconds remaining. Maximilian Kleber's last jump shot can not make any miracle.
"I think we started exactly the way we wanted. We made some mistakes at the end of game. Fortunately, we win the game finally. And the players learned experience from the match," French head coach Vincent Collet said.
