Latvian Cinderella's Story Stops In The Philippines

The FIBA World Cup 2023 quarter-final match between Germany and Latvia ended in Germany's narrow win with a score of 81-79 at Mall of Asia Arena, Manila, Philippines. (Photo via ANTARA/FIBA)

JAKARTA - A surprise from Latvia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup was stopped in the quarter-finals. The debutant team lost slightly to Germany, Wednesday, September 6.

Latvian cinderela stories have stopped at the Mall of Asia Arena, Manila, Philippines, due to defeats by a two-point margin. They lost to Germany with a score of 79-81.

Latvia, who appeared brilliant during their match in Jakarta (the group stages 1 and 2) by winning four wins and one defeat, had to be willing to bury their dream of becoming the first debutant team to qualify for the semifinals after Croatia previously taking 1994.

"Of course, there is a big disappointment right now, but we must not miss the broader vision of our path, what we are doing, what our achievements on the pitch, our style of play, the identity we show everyone," said Latvian coach Luca Banchi, after the game.

"We moved from Jakarta to Manila to sit at one table with seven of the world's best teams. They looked so big. So powerful. So powerful. Once again we show that we are able to compete and that makes me very proud," he added, quoted from the official FIBA website via Antara.

Latvia started the quarter very well by being able to take a 13-3 long lead through figures contributed by Arturs Zagars, Rolands Smits, and Davis Berans.

Luca Banchi's foster children were then caught off guard after taking a long lead and Germany, which is in third place in FIBA EuroBasket 2022, reduced the position and closed the initial quarter with a score of 13-16.

The second quarter goes the other way around. Latvia scored 18 points, better than the first quarter. However, Germany, which performed brilliantly by scoring 23 points, turned things around to 36-34.

The third quarter was fiercer. Davis Bertans' three-point shot started well for Latvia which changed the score to 37-36.

The two teams followed each other's numbers until two free throws from Moritz Wagner left Germany still ahead in the third quarter with a score of 62-59.

Germany started the fourth quarter very well. The figures contributed by Franz Wagner, Isaac Bonga, and closed with the Moritz Wagner dunk put Gordie Herbert's team far ahead 11 points with a score of 70-59 when the time showed eight minutes remaining.

Left far behind did not make Latvia panic. The experience that led them to get rid of the two seeded teams France and Spain at the 2023 FIBA World Cup spoke at this match.

Arturs Zagars again looked stunning. With a total of 24 points, he made the score a narrow margin of 79-81 with 30 seconds remaining playing time.

Germany, relying on Dennis Schroder, failed to make a two-point shot and in the Davis Bertans transition held the ball.

The 2.08 meter basketball player for NBA side Oklahoma City Thunder then fired three points to win the game, but unfortunately failed as the ball only hit the edge of the ring, the ball came out, and time had run out.

Latvia as a debutant team also failed to go further in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and will only hold a classification round to compete for 5-8.

"We only have one more chance to make history bigger than we have made," said Arturs Zagars.

Latvia will face Italy on Thursday, September 7, at 3:45 p.m. local time at the Mall of Asia Arena before then playing the last match to rank 5-8 against Lithuania or Slovenia on Saturday, September 9.

Meanwhile, a narrow victory saw Germany qualify for the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals, for the first time since 2002, to challenge the United States' strong team on Friday, September 8, at 19.40 local time at the Mall of Asia Arena.