Germany Reaches EuroBasket Final for First Time in Two Decades, defeats Finland 87-75
Berlin, Germany – Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner spearheaded a dominant performance as Germany secured a spot in the EuroBasket Final for the first time in 20 years, defeating Finland 87-75 in a hard-fought semi-final clash. The victory guarantees Germany a podium finish and sets up a championship showdown against either Greece or Türkiye.
Germany overcame a spirited challenge from Finland,who briefly threatened a comeback after scoring the first five points of the second half to close the gap to nine. However, three consecutive three-pointers from Germany restored breathing room, extending their lead to 70-52. Finland refused to yield,launching a 13-0 run to narrow the deficit to 77-73,before trailing 81-73 at the end of the third quarter.
A stifling German defense limited Finland to just two points in the opening five minutes of the final stanza, pushing the lead to 87-75. Germany than sealed the victory wiht a decisive burst of offense, hitting three three-pointers in a 71-second span to lead 96-80 with under four minutes remaining.
Schroder was named TCL Player of the Game, delivering a stellar performance with 26 points, four three-pointers, and a EuroBasket Semi-Final record of 12 assists – the most by any player in the competition’s semi-final stage over the last 30 years. Wagner contributed 22 points, while Tristan Da Silva added 13 and Daniel Theis chipped in with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Finland’s Olivier Nkamhoua led his team with a personal EuroBasket best of 21 points, and Lauri Markkanen scored 16, becoming only the second player in EuroBasket history to surpass 500 career points, joining Timo Lampen (621).
Germany’s shooting proved crucial, hitting 14-of-35 three-pointers after struggling from long range in recent games (1-of-24 and 1-of-9 in their previous two contests). They also dominated in transition, earning an 18-11 advantage in fastbreak points.
This result marks the third time in the last four major competitions Germany has secured a podium finish, following a third-place finish at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and a gold medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. Their previous major tournament result was a fourth-place finish at the 2024 Olympics.
Finland will now compete for a historic first-ever podium spot in the Third place Game against the loser of the second Semi-Final.
What 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,” said germany’s Andreas obst.
Isaac Bonga of Germany added, “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 wont to finish the job.”
Johannes Thiemann commented, “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.”
Finland’s Olivier Nkamhoua acknowledged the defeat, stating, “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.”
FIBA
