France gain revenge on world champions Germany in tight match

Hosts France recovered from a terrible start as they edged world champions Germany 73-69 to reach back-to-back Olympic men’s basketball finals on Thursday.

Guerschon Yabusele led the way with 17 points and star player Victor Wembanyama had 11 as France avenged a heavy 85-71 group stage defeat against the Germans in front of delirious Bercy Arena crowd.

In Saturday’s gold medal match, France will meet top favourites United States, who won against Serbia. The US beat France for gold at Tokyo 2020.

Germany were on fire from the tip-off and raced off to a 12-2 lead after less than three minutes but France stopped the rot and battled back to trail 18-16 before Germans led 25-18 after the first quarter.

They restored a 10-point lead early in the second quarter which ended low scoring but also with a 33-33 deadlock from Wembayana because the French grew into the game and Germany failed to score in the final three minutes and managed a mere eight points in the quarter.

France got their first lead of the match from Yabusele’s three-pointer for 36-33. Eight points from captain Dennis Schröder denied the hosts from pulling away at first but not for long.

The French defence tormented the world champions, won rebounds at both ends, and Wembayana nailed his first three-pointer on the seventh attempt early in the final quarter en route to a 66-53 advantage.

Germany were not done and within two at 70-68 but Franz Wagner then slid out of bounds with 12 seconds left after Germany had won a rebound, giving the ball back to France who held out for an emotional victory.

Schröder, who had 18 points, and his team still have the chance to win a first-ever medal for Germany in the event in Saturday’s bronze medal match. Unlucky Serbia will then play Germany in a rematch of the 2023 World Cup final.