INDIANAPOLIS -- Dirk Nowitzki's impressive young career has helped put Germany on the international basketball map. With the Dallas Mavericks all-star leading way, Germany now has a medal to prove it.

The 24-year-old forward scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half and Germany won its first World Championships medal with a 117-94 victory over New Zealand on Sunday in the third-place game.

"We took another step,'' he said, referring to Germany's fourth-place finish in the European championships that qualified it for this tournament. "Our future is bright. Our next goal is to qualify for the Olympics in 2004. I just hope everyone is healthy so we can be there.''

The odds are pretty good as long as Nowitzki is wearing a Germany uniform.

Nowitzki, the tournament's leading scorer with a 23.4 average, scored eight points in Germany's 10-0 run to close the first quarter as it took a 35-27 lead.

He added nine points in the second quarter when Germany (6-3) took control, including a monster slam dunk that made it 68-44 and a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left that made it 74-48.

"New Zealand was a little bit tired and we were shooting well,'' Nowitzki said of ending this game in the opening 20 minutes.

This was Germany's third appearance in the World Championships and its best finish was 12th in 1994. The country hasn't had much success in the Olympics either, with just three appearances, the last a seventh-place finish in 1992.

"What we did in the European championships and now this, it shows German basketball is not a one-day wonder,'' coach Henrik Dettmann said. "Dirk is an unbelievable player but this is a team game and we don't have cheerleaders. Everybody contributes and that gives us great energy and great effort.''

Phil Jones had 26 points for New Zealand (4-5), which went a lot farther in the tournament than anyone expected. Its berth in the semifinals could be compared to a mid-major college team reaching the NCAA tournament's Final Four.

New Zealand lost its only NBA player, Sean Marks of the Miami Heat, to an eye injury after three games and the run for the most improbable of world titles ended with the 89-78 loss to Yugoslavia in the semifinals.

This was the second World Championships appearance for New Zealand, which didn't even get past the first round in 1986. Its only Olympic berth was in 2000 and then it finished 1-5, the only win over Angola in the 11th-place game.

This time, the run to the semifinals meant a second berth for the Oceania region in the 12-team Olympics in 2004.

Kirk Penney, who plays at Wisconsin, had 19 points for New Zealand.

"This is just great for basketball in New Zealand from the way the country got behind us to what this will do for the kids,'' Penney said. "This was awesome, a thrill we probably won't understand for a while. This was years in the making and it will have an effect for years to come.''

Despite the high average, Nowitzki had been struggling with his shooting. In the first eight games he was 52-for-136 (38.2 percent) overall from the field, including 21.1 percent (8-for-38) from 3-point range.

He was just 8-for-26 in the 86-80 loss to Argentina in the semifinals.

It was nothing like that against New Zealand.

Nowitzki was 7-for-10 from the field in the first half and made all four of his 3-point attempts. Germany shot 77.4 percent (24-for-31) in taking the 26-point halftime lead.

"There is still a little frustration because we were so close yesterday,'' Nowitzki said, referring to the semifinal loss. "It's a great feeling but it's still frustrating.''

Ademola Okulaja, who played at North Carolina, added 21 points for Germany.