It hasn´t been a glorious Albert Schweitzer tournament for the German U-17 squad coached by Dirk Bauerman as they went into the game against China with a 0-4 record. One can´t forget that Germany has a very young group of young men with little experience and had to cope with some real growing pains especially against Serbia where they mustered only 35 points, but as in all the other games gave it all they had, but just couldn´t compete with them in a way they would have liked for 40 minutes. Their next opponent was China who like them had not won yet and had been so close the day before losing a bitter 94-88 contest to Egypt in overtime. Germany had a night to rest and forget the Serbian game as quickly as possible as it had been a real learning experience and now were focused to finally get their first win against China. 24 hours after the tough loss to Serbia, Germany came out showing real heart and controlled the game against China until they gave China their first lead of the game at the 39,37 minute mark and they never looked back as Germany lost a difficult 63-62 game to China. “It was impressive how the boys came back after the loss to Serbia. It was a great performance at both ends of the court. The zone in the second half got to us. We didn´t have the needed experience and preparation to overcome that”, stressed Germany head coach Dirk Bauermann. China had a slow start, but step by step found to their game and never stopped fighting and in crunch-time had an ice cold Boyuan Zhang (203-F-2007) who was a walking bucket who scored 11 of the teams last 13 points to help them gain the last seconds win over Germany. “We had a slow start and nobody stepped up in the first half. In the second half we came back with real team spirit and improved our defense and played transition”, stressed Boyuan Zhang.

Xi Rui Feng at the FT line

In the first quarter it was all Germany as they left their Serbia blues behind them and just came together and played team basketball and had fun leading by 13 points after 10 minutes. Before anyone was really aware what happened in the gym, Germany was ahead 10-0. Germany found their offensive rhythm quickly finding their touch from outside as Vechta forward Marko Petric and Frankfurt´s Ivan Crnjac connected for three´s while uUm´s Jervis Scheffs connected for 4 points. Ivan Crnjac wasn´t only versatile on offense, but also was a menace on defense getting a big block. China finally got their first field goal at the 7,14 minute mark as Zhang drove to the rim for the bucket. Germany was playing with very high energy at both ends and continued to let it rain three´s as Colognes Kenan Reinhart and Ludwigsburg Julis Baumer let it fly for the comfortable 16-4 lead. China really couldn´t muster much offense. They had problems with Germany´s aggressive defense that did a great job on the quick and strong Chinese ball handlers and also were the better rebounding team. Zhang added another basket as his quick footing and rapid drive to the hoop gave Germany fits all day long. Petric closed out the first quarter with a lay in off the inbounds pass as Baumer found him in an instance as Germany led 18-5. “We started off giving the right signal. We showed that the loss to Serbia didn´t affect us”, said Dirk Bauermann.

Nevio Bennefeld with the finish

Germany continued to control the game well in the second quarter, but had a few down minutes at the end allowing China to creep closer trailing only by 7 points at half-time. Germany got the first baskets from Petric and a jumper from Alba Berlin big man Nevio Bennefeld. Germany did a good job closing the zone, but China got better into their game getting three´s from Jin Bo Fu and Zhang to trail 22-11. Germany stayed calm and executed their offense solidly as Scheffs showed his 1-1 qualities scoring on a spin move and Bennefeld remained aggressive making a 20 footer for the 26-15 advantage. Leverkusen big man Lukas Klein added a lay in on the pick and roll as Baumer found him and Germany led 29-15. At this point, it looked like Germany was on it´s way again to running away with the game, but China had other ideas. China closed out the second quarter strong with a 9-2 run to trail only 31-24 at the break. In the run China was fortified by getting to the free throw line. The damage could have been worse by China, but they missed 3 free throws. They also got big baskets from quick guard Fang Liu and walking bucket Boyuan Zhang. Germany had problems taking care of the ball as China´s aggressive on ball pressure annoyed their rhythm. Paderborn guard Tom Bruggerman closed out the second quarter with a lay in. Germany still had the lead, but China was threatening with their high tempo game.

Jin Bo Fu from outside

In the third quarter China continued to heighten their game and at one point trailed only by 3 points, but Germany made a valuable adjustment by totally getting big man Lukas Klein involved as he scored basket after basket and after 30 minutes Germany led 50-40. Germany was seeking that offensive flow from the first quarter, but just couldn´t find it as China just kept chipping back. China received free throws from big man Xi Rui Feng and another three pointer from Zhang to cut Germany´s lead down to 34-29. After Nevio Bennefeld scored on a pretty spin move, China reacted with a lay in from Li Lui off the no look pas from Yang Liu and free throws from Xi Rui Feng as Germany led only 36-33. Germany closed out the third quarter with a 13-7 run as Lukas Klein contributed 10 points as he was fed over and over in the paint area. Julis Baumer found him three times including once for a thunderous dunk. Germany did a fine job exploiting the big body of Klein and thus getting easy baskets. “China came back. They aren´t a bad team. There are always ups and down. That´s part of the game”, stated Dirk Bauermann. “We did a good job staying consistent and keeping the game close”, added Boyuan Zhang.

Lukas Klein at the FT line

In the fourth quarter China continued to fight and play their high energy style. They switched to zone and in crunch-time it was Boyuan Zhang who took matters into his own hands and just supplied a show for the audience. China got going quickly getting a lay in by Zhang and three pointer by Zheng Wang to trail Germany only 51-45. Jervis Scheffs then stepped up hitting back to back off balance shots showing that he can be that guy who can take over offensively when needed. “Jervis is a guy that can take over a game. He already showed that last season. He has nerves of steel”, commented Dirk Bauermann. Germany then got a transition bucket from Bennefeld to lead 57-48. Then it was time for the Boyuan Zhang show as he scored 11 unanswered points. Every play the ball went to him and nobody could stop him. He got to the free throw line netting 2 free throws while making a trey and 3 lay in´s to deadlock the contest at 59-59. “Coach adjusted our defense and we went to zone. They couldn´t score and we got transition baskets from our zone”, commented Boyuan Zhang. Scheffs then hit a massive three pointer with 1,17 to play to give Germany the 62-59 advantage. Wen Hao Fu then made a basket to trail Germany 62-61. After a Scheffs miss, Zhang made clutch free throws for the 63-62 lead with 23 seconds remaining. Germany had one last chance, but Scheffs jumper came up a little short. “I just knew that I needed to step up. I wanted to help my team. I enjoy taking the clutch shots”, smiled Boyuan Zhang. “We knew how dangerous Zhang was coming into the game. He hit big shots”, stressed Dirk Bauermann. China was led by Boyuan Zhang with 28 points and Xi Rui Feng added 10 points while Germany was led by Lukas Klein and Jervis Scheffs with 13 points a piece. China shot 35% from the field and 33% from outside and had 40 rebounds and 15 turnovers while Germany shot 35% from the field and 19% from outside and had 38 rebounds and 12 turnovers.