The start of the game was marked by the clumsiness of Germany, who went too fast and missed shots near the circle. Symbol of this awkwardness: Dennis Schroder, who ends the first quarter with a terrible 0/6 to shoot!
Latvia, she sets up her game, the ball circulates and Davis Bertans strikes three times at 3-pts. With an 11-0, the Latvians are already ten steps ahead. But the minutes that follow are more complicated and, without being brilliant, Gordon Herbert’s men, although dominated, come back after the first ten minutes (16-13).
After minutes without relief, the Germans therefore confirm at the start of the second quarter, with a 9-0 straddling the two quarters. Johannes Thiemann particularly hurts inside. It is also in the racket that Latvia manages to react. Luca Banchi and his players gave in to five straight points from Maodo Lô and the “Mannschaft” returned to the locker room with a two-point lead (36-34).
Dennis Schroder in the bag
Davis Bertans starts the second period on the same pace as the first, with a winning basket plus the foul, and Latvia goes 8-0. For his part, Dennis Schroder finally breaks his bad series with a basket, after twelve failures! He also launched Daniel Theis at the alley-oop, when Franz Wagner, who was making his return to competition, also distinguished himself. Germany seems to have the controls, faced with the faults of the Latvians, in a third quarter very rhythmic and less jerky than the first two.
Arturs Zagars, behind the arc, responds to Franz Wagner and Andreas Obst, then Bertans, again him, at 3-pts allows his teammates to be left in the race. Germany approaches the last act in front of the score (62-59).
And she drives the point home quickly, with a first basket for Isaac Bonga, at 3-pts, then an interception by Moritz Wagner, which will conclude with the dunk. The “Mannschaft” pass an 8-0 which sounds like a blow behind the head for Latvia, relegated to eleven points. With two winning baskets, Zagars and company give themselves air and force Germany to take a time-out.
Dennis Schroder still can’t find the target, near or far, and with another award-winning shot, Latvia are getting closer. But Rolands Smits misses two open shots and the Raptors playmaker connects two layups in a row, including the second with the fault, to give his team a ten-point lead.
Latvia had the match point
But it was written that this match would be played until the end. Under the impetus of the brilliant Arturs Zagars, Latvia went 8-0 to regain possession with less than a minute. Dennis Schroder can make the difference, but still misses (9 points at 4/26 to shoot) and the Latvians then have seven seconds to snatch an extension, or even victory. It is this last option that is taken by Davis Bertans (20 points) who stops (too?) quickly at 3-pts and tries his luck. He misses and Germany wins 81-79! With so many seconds, maybe there was better to do, especially leaving the ball to Zagars (24 points) who was hot…
The Germans, carried by 28 points and 12 rebounds from the Wagner brothers who thus caught up with the terrible match of their playmaker (4/26 shooting), join Team USA in the semi-finals and Latvia, the beautiful story of this competition , will no doubt harbor regrets over this ultimate possession for a long time.
Highlights to come…
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
