Story by KL ChouinardTwitter: @KLChouinard
In a game featuring both of the Atlanta Hawks participating in EuroBasket 2017, Germany ground out a 61-55 win over Italy to clinch a spot in the Round of 16.
With Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer in attendance to watch both Dennis Schröder and Marco Belinelli, it was Schröder who came out on top in a low-scoring game that featured a pair of stingy defenses. Schröder scored a game-high 17 points while making 5 of his 12 shot attempts.
"I think both teams really executed their defensive game plans," German head coach Chris Fleming said after the game in a press conference streamed on the FIBA website.
Schröder created offense in a number of ways, setting his teammates up for 4 assists and getting to the free-throw line for 9 attempts.
For Italy, Belinelli scored 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting, while adding 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists.
In other Group B action Tuesday, Georgia defeated Israel in overtime, 104-91. As a result, Italy (2-2) also advanced to the Round of 16 because of previous wins over Israel (1-3) and Ukraine (1-3). With the tiebreaker based on head-to-head play, Italy is guaranteed to fall no further than fourth place in the final standings, even if they lose tomorrow in their last game of group play against Georgia.
Germany ends group play tomorrow with a game against Lithuania that will determine who receives the top seed from Group B.
Germany's schedule of games for group play (all times ET):
Aug. 31, Ukraine, Won 75-63 Sep. 2, Georgia, Won 67-57 Sep. 3, Israel, Lost, 82-80 Sep. 5, Italy, Won, 61-55 Sep. 6, Lithuania, 7:45 AM Italy's schedule of games for group play (all times ET): Aug. 31, Israel, Won 69-48 Sep. 2, Ukraine, Won, 78-66 Sep. 3, Lithuania, Lost, 78-73 Sep. 5, Germany, Lost, 61-55 Sep. 6, Georgia, 10:30 AM