RIGA (Latvia) - Just one victory stands in the way of Germany achieving their goal and leaving as FIBA EuroBasket 2025 champions after they showed their class and experience in a hard-fought 98-86 victory over Finland in the Semi-Finals.
The reigning world champions ended the fairytale title dreams of the Wolfpack, who did not make things easy for Germany in a spirited comeback. The Germans reached their first EuroBasket Final since 2005 and are still alive for a second crown to go with the 1993 championship.
Finland were appearing in their first ever EuroBasket Semi-Final and will play in the Third Place Game.
Turning Point
After losing 91-61 to Germany in the group stage, Finland came out lazer focused on offense and efficiently built a 14-6 early cushion. The world champs started to click offensively with reeled off an 18-3 run to pull ahead 29-21. Germany were up 30-26 after 10 minutes - the most points scored by any team in a first quarter in EuroBasket history.
In front of 10,047 fans at Arena Riga, Germany did not step off the gas and started the second quarter with a 16-2 surge to extend the margin to 46-28. It was a 19-point lead for the Germans, but Finland would not let their Suomi fans down, trimming the deficit to 11 points and going to intermission down 61-47.
Susijengi gave temporary concern to Germany fans by scoring the first five points of the second half for a nine-point gap. Germany's sharpshooters stepped back up with three three-pointers for breathing space at 70-52. Finland were not done yet with 13 straight points to make it 77-73, and they were down 81-73 after 30 minutes.
Germany's offense slowed in the final stanza but their defense held Finland to just two points in the first 5 minutes and were up 87-75. Germany delivered the knockout punch with a trio of triples in 71 seconds to lead 96-80 with under 4 minutes to play.
TCL Player of the Game
Germany's two big guns made sure that Finland did not dream long of an upset as Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner played otherworldly. But the award goes to Schroder, who scored 26 points with 4 three-pointers and also dished out 12 assists the most by any player in a EuroBasket Semi-Final over the last 30 years.
Wagner totalled 22 points, Tristan Da Silva scored 13 points, and Daniel Theis chipped in 10 points and 11 rebounds. At the other end, Olivier Nkamhoua tallied a personal EuroBasket best 21 points and Lauri Markkanen scored 16 points - joining Timo Lampen (621) as the only other player with 500+ points in EuroBasket history.
Stats Don't Lie
Germany had started their last two games 1-of-24 and 1-of-9 from long range but they hit 5-of-10 out of the gates en route to 14-of-35 on three-pointers for the game. Germany were fantastic in getting easy points with a 18-11 advantage in fastbreak points.
Bottom Line
Germany have secured a podium finish in three of the last four major competitions - third place at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and the title at FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 - with fourth place at the 2024 Olympics the other result. The only team in Germany's way will be either Greece or Türkiye, who will square off later in the day for a spot opposite Germany in Sunday's Final.
Finland for their part still have a chance for a historic first-ever podium spot. They will face off against the loser of the second Semi-Final in the Third Place Game before Sunday's Final.
They Said
"Finland are a great fighting team and had some great games in the knockout stage so we knew we would have to be really ready physically. I think we did it pretty well overall. We had moments where we had to fight them off but I think we handled it pretty well." - Andreas Obst, Germany
"We are happy but at the same time we know what we are capable of and we came here to win the title. This game showed our growth and character. We've been in this situation already at the Olympics and we learned from it. And now we want to finish the job." - Isaac Bonga, Germany
"We were able to play more Germany basketball but you have to say that Finland like to play fast and allow opponents to do more. So it was good for us to get running a bit more." - Johannes Thiemann, Germany
It's a bummer. It sucks and it's a big game we weren't able to make it to the gold game but you have to respect your opponents. They were able to play 40 minutes of good basketball and we weren't. But after tonight and sitting with this loss and learning from it we have one of our country's biggest games coming up on Sunday." - Olivier Nkamhoua, Finland
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA