Sweden's 73–72 win in front of nearly 9,000 spectators in Stockholm was a big bang in the qualifying round and simultaneously a major step towards next year's European Championship.
Monday evening's return match in SNP Dome in Heidelberg was a different story. The Germans were in the driver's seat most of the time and went into the third quarter with a ten-point lead.
A very tough match. They came out hard and were clearly better than us, says Ludvig "Ludde" Håkanson to SVT.
Fell apart
Sweden sprang to life, halved the German lead, but the success was short-lived after the break. Coach Mikko Riipinen, Norrköping Dolphins' multiple gold medalist, made changes to the team without sufficient positive results.
They had scouted us very well and we couldn't solve it, says Håkanson.
The shooting, the return game offensively and defensively, the passing game... most things failed during the last ten minutes of the match. Germany led by as much as 22 points and held Sweden to 13 points in the fourth and final quarter.
The Germans took a total of 22 offensive rebounds in the match – a decisive factor behind the victory.
They are incredibly big and physical. We should have done a better job, but Germany is one of the better teams on offensive rebounds.
Barra Njie and Melwin Pantzar scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, and were Sweden's top scorers in the match.
Decisive in February
In tonight's other match in the qualifying group, Montenegro turned a deficit into a win with 90–86 away against Bulgaria.
If the basketball team had managed to beat Germany for the second time in a few days, the European Championship ticket would have been clear. Now the final qualifying matches against Bulgaria (away) and Montenegro (home) in February will be decisive.
Sweden has two wins and as many losses after four played matches.
Now everything is open ahead of the final qualifying window. Winning one of two matches against Germany is incredibly good, says Ludvig Håkanson to SVT.
Three out of four teams from the qualifying group will reach the European Championship next year. The last time the Swedish basketball team participated in a European Championship was in 2013.
