The men's basketball team of Serbia won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris today, as they beat Germany 93:83 (30:21, 16:17, 26:25, 21:20) in the match for third place.
Serbia, whose bench is led by coach Svetislav Pešić, was led to victory by Nikola Jokić with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Today he became the fourth player in the history of the Games who managed to record a triple-double in one match.
Jokić was followed by Vasilije Micić with 19, Bogdan Bogdanović with 16 and Aleksa Avramović with 13 points.
The most effective for Germany were Franz Wagner with 18 and Moric Wagner with 18 points.
Serbia got into the match better, and with good team play, after the first part had a nine point advantage 30:21. The Germans relied on the three-point shot in that stretch, hitting five 11-pointers on XNUMX attempts.
After Bogdanović's point, Serbia reached a double-digit advantage at the start of the third period, 35:23. By the end of the half, the Germans managed to stop the onslaught of Serbia, and reduce the difference to single digits (46:38).
The best for Serbia in the first half were Vasilije Micić with 12 and Nikola Jokić with 10 points.
Serbia opened the second half with a 6:0 run and again reached plus 14 (52:38). The Germans responded with five tied points, but Avramović hit a three-pointer and in the next attack stole the ball and scored points from the counter and returned plus 14 for Serbia.
Serbia continued with a better game, and after new points from Avramović and a triple from Dobrić, they reached the maximum plus 19 (64:45) halfway through the third period. Germany responded with two connected three-pointers and came to minus 13, and after Bonge's new three-pointer, to minus 10 two and a half minutes before the third period.
Serbia entered the last section with plus nine (72:63).
After the equal beginning of the last part, the Germans managed to get to minus eight, but with points from Bogdanović and Marinković, Serbia reached plus 13 with five minutes to go, and the coach of Germany had to ask for a time-out.
After the time-out, Marinković scored a three-pointer to bring Serbia up to 15 three and a half minutes before the end. In the end, Germany tried to get back into the game with threes, but they were not accurate, and Serbia celebrated and brought the fourth medal to Serbia at this year's Games.
The USA and France will meet in the final, scheduled for today at 21.30:XNUMX p.m.
Bonus video:
