COIMBRA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers) – Germany won both their games in the Coimbra three-nation friendly tournament and finished in first place ahead of Portugal and Great Britain while the hosts also had plenty of reasons to smile at the end of the weekend. All three teams are immersed in preparations for the FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers which get under way on 31 August.

On Sunday night, the German side used a strong second-quarter display to grab a nine-point lead over Portugal at half-time and then held off the hosts to clinch a 79-74 win that sealed their tournament victory. Maodo Lo and Tibor Pleiss paced Germany with 16 points each, the big man also pulling down nine boards. For Portugal, Jose Silva had 19 points and Joao Gomes added 15 in losing efforts.

"This was a very good test today [Sunday]," said Germany head coach Chris Fleming. "We started badly, but then we largely controlled the game. In the fourth quarter we were affected by some minor injuries (Patrick Heckmann got hit on the nose while Paul Zipser suffered cramps) which threw us off rhythm and we made some mistakes while the opponents played with lots of energy. We could have made it easier for us, but Daniel (Theis) and Maodo saved the game with key plays."

Despite the loss, Portugal proved a point as they stayed close to Germany throughout the game, less than 48 hours after celebrating a 72-68 win over Great Britain in the tournament opener, behind 13 points by Miguel Queiroz and 12 points from each of Silva and Joao Soares. Kieron Achara scored 13 points in a losing effort for Great Britain.

"More important than the victory, were the obvious signs that we are becoming increasingly competitive in Europe," said Portugal’s Tomas Barroso. "In a game that was expectedly difficult and of high intensity, we did not shy away from the fight but on the contrary we showed our ambition to win right from the start. We know where we want to go and how to get there and, little by little, we are approaching that goal."

Fellow Portuguese international Fabio Lima was also very satisfied with what the hosts showed in Coimbra. "Germany is always a high-level team, one of the best in Europe," he said. "But we can compete with them. The game against the British showed that the team is improving after all the work we have done."

On Saturday, Germany had prevailed 78-61 over Great Britain behind 12 points from each of Pleiss and Niels Giffey, while Ben Gordon finished with 17 points in what was his long-awaited debut with the British national team.

FIBA