Magic's Wagner Brothers, Germany Beat Serbia in FIBA World Cup Final
ORLANDO - Orlando Magic brothers Franz and Moe Wagner are making their country proud after leading Germany to a perfect FIBA World Cup tournament and a 83-77 victory in the final Sunday against Serbia to capture the gold medal.
The two teams were tied at halftime, but a staunch defensive performance from Germany in the third quarter in which it outscored Serbia 22-10, helped push the Germans to victory.
Serbia pulled to within two points with less than a minute to go, but was unable to get any closer.
Franz, who missed four games during the tournament with an ankle injury, scored 19 points for Germany, including 10 from the free throw line. Moe also shined off the bench, coming in to score a crucial eight points for the Germans.
Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
The leader for Germany was Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder, who scored a game-high 28 points.
It's the first FIBA World Cup gold medal for Germany, which entered the tournament at No. 11 in the FIBA rankings. Serbia entered the tournament at No. 5, but the country's silver medal is certainly no small feat.
Aleksa Avramovic led the Serbians with 21 points while Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17. Perhaps if NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic had played, Serbia may have ended up on the right side of this result.
As for the Wagners, they will return home to the States with that coveted gold medal ... but they won't have much time to recover as Magic training camp begins in early October.
