Latvia edged out by Germany in basketball World Cup thriller in Manila

The Germans will meet the USA national team in the semi-finals in Manila on Friday, while the Latvian national team will have another game, meeting Italy to decide who claims 5th place on Thursday.

Latvia started the match very strongly, with excellent defense, and via two three-pointers by Dāvis Bertāns, they took an early 10-point lead, 13:3, causing dreams of a semi-final across their home country, which had ground to a virtual halt as people followed the action online. 

The German national team recovered after a timeout and reduced the deficit by the break, then were able to take the lead for the first time at the beginning of the second quarter.

Denis Schröder, the German team's star player, was successfully marshalled for the most part and at the halfway point it was still anyone's game (36:34). 

The lead changed hands several times at the start of the third quarter, but the Germans were starting to click and by the time the final quarter started things were looking ominous for the underdogs.

Six and a half minutes before the final whistle, the difference in the score reached 14 points (60:74), but at that point Latvia launched a desperate and effective fightback with Rolands Šmits and Artūrs Žagars hitting multiple three-pointers. In one final attack, Bertāns had a chance to snatch the victory with a shot from distance, but the ball did not fall through the hoop, breaking 1.9 million hearts in the process.

Nevertheless, the effort put in by the whole team was outstanding and has shown beyond doubt that Latvia deserves its place at the top table of world basketball and need fear no-one.