Germany won the Basketball World Cup for the first time on Sunday, defeating Serbia 83-77.
The Germans, who had gone undefeated throughout the tournament and were playing in their first final, took the lead in the third quarter in Manila.
Serbia staged a frantic fourth-quarter comeback, but Germany held them off and took home the Naismith Trophy.
Dennis Schroder finished the game with 28 points, followed by Franz Wagner with 19.
Germany had defeated the United States in a thrilling semi-final match.
Serbia, who was attempting to win the title for the first time as an independent nation, suffered an injury to small forward Ognjen Dobric with fewer than three minutes remaining in the game.
After a severe impact when attacking the basket, Dobric had to be helped away.
He later returned to courtside, riding an exercise bike, but did not return to the game.
Serbia was cheered on by a big number of travelling supporters, but they were unable to keep up with Germany in the second half.
Serbia’s leading scorer was Aleksa Avramovic, who finished with 21 points, followed by Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had 17.
In a tense first half that ended 47-47, there was little to separate the two teams.
All of that changed in the third quarter, as Germany outscored Serbia 22-10.
Serbia stormed back in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to three points with less than a minute remaining.
A Schroder lay-up calmed Germany’s jitters, and Avramovic’s missed three-point try dashed Serbia’s aspirations.
Serbia was without power forward Borisa Simanic, who had surgery to remove a kidney after injuring himself earlier in the competition.
They were also missing star Nikola Jokic, who boycotted the tournament to relax after leading the Denver Nuggets to the NBA championship last season.
