Germany's Last Minute Fight Against Czech Republic

One second of Magic in the dying minutes was all it took to turn this game around as Germany beat the defending champions Czech Republic (54-47) to put them back in the competition.


A lively first period in which the Czech Republic were forced to shoot from the outside as they were not able to break through the German wall to score any points. Germany solid in defense and more conservative in their shot selection relied heavily on Linda Frohlich as they edged the first period (17:14). Defense was the order of the day in this match and during five minutes of the second period the defending champions gave a master class as they kept their opponents scoreless and regained the lead when Hana Machova perseverance paid off as she stripped Natalie Gohrke and went on to finish a lay up for Czech to regain the lead (17:18) and it required the entry of Roll-Ann Nikagbatse to get the German offensive back into action and by the time Margret Skuballa put Germany back in front with a shot from down (24:23) the recovery was complete. The game was nicely poised at the interval with Germany trailing by the smallest of margins (25:26).

The game became more physical as both teams matched each other blow for blow defensively with
neither team able to get things going as they exchanged the lead several times in what turned into a shooting contest that neither side could win and the game was tied (38-38) going into the final period

The ding dong battled continued for most of the final period until the unthinkable happened, German finally managed to get a basket right under the bucket in the paint which just happened to be Linda Fröhlich last basket of the night and suddenly with 1:57 left on the clock Germany had a gap of 4-points. That the defending champions did not score again was due some great defence. Germany had only hit 3-of-11 coming into the final stretch but hit all six in the dying minutes to win the match and keep their Quarter final hopes alive.

Fröhlich may have been the star on the statistic side with 18 points, 10 rebound and 3 steals but the very quiet Imre Szittya outwardly calm persona was a critical factor in this victor.

Special Interviews after the game with Linda Fröhlich

Anne Breitreiner and Alexandra Mûller