Youssoupha Ndoye (C) of Senegal defends Danilo Barthel (L) of Germany during the group P match between Germany and Senegal at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Shanghai, east China, Sept. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)
SHANGHAI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- NBA players Daniel Theis, Dennis Schroder, and Maximilian Kleber together added 50 points in Germany's 89-78 victory over winless Senegal here on Saturday in Group P of the FIBA World Cup classification round.
Senegal opened the game with a 5-0 run before Germany turned things around to a 14-11 lead.
However, Germany's lead was not the whole story of the game, as Senegal tied the score on three occasions in the second quarter.
Ibrahima Faye of Senegal scored 9 points through three-pointers plus a slam dunk to lead Germany 37-36 after 20 minutes.
After the interval, it turned out to be a closely-contested game, but Germany finally managed 6 three-pointers to make into the last quarter ahead 66-60.
The Germans then continued to use more rebounds and assists to finally grab the win.
Schroder dropped 24 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds, while Theis added 14 points and 5 rebounds.
"Senegal played a good game. We came out with sparks in second half, and Schroder stepped forward. 24 points speak for itself, and a couple of other players also shoot up," said Germany coach Henrik Rodl.
Senegal is still waiting for a first victory in the tournament. They next play Jordan, another winless team.
"It was team effort. The games are always dog fight, and it was a dog fight today. We want the next win against Canada," said German player Robin Benzing reflecting on the game.
