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RIGA (Latvia) – Germany avoided being the next FIBA EuroBasket 2025 title favorite to be eliminated earlier than expected but they needed a massive battle to overcome Slovenia 99-91 to reach the Semi-Finals.
Having watched the likes of Spain, Serbia and France all make early exits, the world champions rallied from a slow start to set up a date with Finland to decide who will play in Sunday’s Final.
Slovenia exited at the Quarter-Finals stage for the second straight EuroBasket – falling to Poland three years ago in Germany.
Turning Point
With 9,038 spectators on hand at Arena Riga, Slovenia were not fazed by Germany’s undefeated run to the Quarter-Finals and finished the first quarter on a 10-2 surge to lead 32-21 after 10 minutes.
Slovenia were ahead 34-21 early in the second period when Germany picked up their defense and got out and ran and mounted a 13-2 run to pull within 36-34. Germany tied it 39-39 but Slovenia were able to fend off Germany and went into the intermission ahead 51-45.
Luka Doncic picked up his fourth foul just 2 minutes into the second half but remained in the game and Slovenia stayed ahead 59-52. Germany just could not make a dent in the lead and Slovenia were up 73-64 late in the third quarter.
Tristan Da Silva gave the Germans some momentum going into the final 10 minutes with a half-court buzzer beater to make it 74-70. The push continued in the fourth with two triples to lead 82-77. Slovenia did not buckle and pulled back ahead. But Germany showed their defense with just 2 points over nealy 3 minutes to move ahead 96-89 with a minute to play.
TCL Player of the Game
Germany had a number of big performances but Daniel Theis stood out above the rest. He scored 15 points to go with 9 rebounds and 2 assists.
Franz Wagner added 23 points and Dennis Schroder picked up 20 points and 7 assists. Slovenia could not get enough production besides Luka Doncic, who tallied 39 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists in the loss.
Stats Don’t Lie
Germany committed only 6 turnovers, had 16-6 advantage in fast break points and made 30 of 37 free throws to help make up for shooting just 30 percent on three-pointers.
Bottom Line
Germany made some history of their own by reaching back-to-back Semi-Finals for the first time after taking third place three years ago at home in Berlin. The reigning world champs will next take on Finland in the Semi-Finals.
Read about how Finland beat Georgia
History: Finland punch ticket to EuroBasket Semi-Finals
They Said
“We are happy and I think we deserve it after this game. They play smart and know how to draw fouls. Luka draws a lot of attention to himself and hits a lot of tough shots. We missed some threes but we are not worried. The opponent is prepared for us but we have to keep shooting with confidence. We did well and nearly scored 100 points so we can be happy about where we are. ” – Andreas Obst, Germany
“We are just happy to win this game. If you look back I think it’s a good situation. Our main focus is just making sure we win this next game, recover and keep this mission going..” – Isaac Bonga, Germany
“You never want to need to do it in the fourth quarter but it shows our quality that we can step up even more at the end.” – Johannes Thiemann, Germany
“I’m proud of these guys. If I could bring all 12 of the guys here (to the press conference) and give them a standing ovation, I would. What they did this summer and in this championship, against probably the best team in this competition, and to outplay them throughout the whole game, that’s big. Unfortunatley we were not successful but I think we can leave this championship with our heads up.” – Aleksander Sekulic, Slovenia
“We were better throughout the game, or at least 37, 38 minutes. It hurts but I am very, very proud of this team.” – Klemen Prepelic, Slovenia
For more quotes, tune in to the official post-game press conference!
FIBA