RIGA (Latvia) - The battle of Cinderella stories unfolded on Wednesday in Arena Riga, where Finland and Georgia faced off after stunning Quarter-Final upsets over Serbia and France, respectively.
With a place in history on the line, Finland prevailed, earning their first ever trip to the Semi-Finals with a 93-79 win.
On Friday, they will play the winner of the Germany vs Slovenia matchup.
Turning Point
It was always going to be a clash of styles, with coach Aleksandar Dzikic and Georgia hoping for a slower paced game and more post ups, and coach Lassi Tuovi telling the Finnish players to keep pushing the tempo.
They were trading blows through the first six minutes, but a late first quarter run saw Finland go from 12-12 to 28-15 in a hurry, capped by Mikael Jantunen's buzzer beating three-pointer.
With the gap quickly ballooning to 20 points, Georgia lost a lot of energy trying to come back, and they did make it interesting with a Sandro Mamukelashvili dunk to cut it to -6 with seven minutes to play.
However, Miro Little knocked down a deep three-pointer, then Goga Bitadze committed an unsportsmanlike foul, and two possessions later, Finland were back up by 81-67 after Olivier Nkamhoua's triple.
More than enough to seal the deal.
TCL Player of the Game
While Lauri Markkanen had another inspiring performance (17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks), it was Mikael Jantunen who was the game hero for Finland.
Against Serbia, he was impressive on the defensive end, taking over the duties of guarding Nikola Jokic, and this time around, it was his offense making the difference.
Jantunen knocked down three three-pointers early on, finishing the game with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Finland were a +12 team with him on the floor.
It was the second time Jantunen scored 19 points in this EuroBasket, previously setting his career-high in this event against Lithuania.
Stats Don't Lie
Not a lot any team can do when Finland knock down 10-of-15 three-pointers in the first half alone.
This was their fourth time scoring more than 50 points in first halves of EuroBasket games since Lassi Tuovi took over in 2022.
Before that, they had only one EuroBasket game with more than 50 points in the first half, against England in 1955.
Bottom Line
Backed by 5,000 traveling fans, Finland did not feel the pressure of the moment. Instead, they played a nearly perfect half of basketball, forcing the crowd to sing "Suomi! Suomi!" on repeat.
Everybody contributed, with Sasu Salin and Edon Maxhuni coming up big off the bench, combining for 29 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep.
Finland were the upset package of the Quarter-Finals in 2022, but nobody should be surprised that they are now a top four European team, as this result was palpable for the past 10 years.
They were 16th in 2015, then improved to 11th in 2017, and 7th in 2022. Now, they are just two wins away from lifting the trophy.
Georgia, meanwhile, had already made history by reaching the Quarter-Finals for the first time ever.
Coach Dzikic and his men were greeted with ovations from 1,000 of their fans behind the bench, making the nation proud by not giving up even when they were down by 20.
Tornike Shengelia signed out with 18 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, but was ejected after an unsportsmanlike foul on Maxhuni and a technical foul with 3:30 to play.
They Said
"This should give hope for all sports in Finland." - Finland head coach Lassi Tuovi
"It's been the same group for a long time, and we got just one new guy who wasn't there for the last EuroBasket. It's a very tight group, like coming back and playing with your friends. That's the kind of basketball culture in Finland." - Mikael Jantunen, Finland
"He's capable to make those shots, and even more important, he knows the guys have the confidence in him to make it." - Tuovi, describing Elias Valtonen's two big threes in the fourth quarter
"I'm extremely excited to play do-or-die games with this crew." - Tuovi, not settling for just an appearance in the Semi-Finals, he wants it all
For quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA